Post-Beijing 2008: Geopolitics, Sport and the Pacific Rim

In 2008, as few in the world are unaware, China was host to the world via the Beijing Olympics. The world watched the metamorphosis of Beijing from insecure capital to confident metropolis but, aware of it or not, the world was also watching the symbolic assertion, via the Games, of a rising superpower. The Pacific Rim will be the stage on which China initially displays its new hegemonic intentions, aspirations and ambitions. Thus in Post-Beijing 2008, the political, economic and cultural impact of Beijing 2008 on the geopolitical future of the Pacific Rim will be discussed. This perspective, analysed by some of the most distinguished academic commentators from some of the world's leading universities who are closely associated with the Pacific Rim (East and West), is original in focus and the analysis is pregnant with political possibilities. This book was previously published as a special issue of the International Journal of the History of Sport.

J.A. Mangan, Emeritus Professor of Strathclyde University, is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, author of the internationally acclaimed Athleticism in the Victorian and Edwardian Public School (CUP) and The Games Ethic and Imperialism (Penguin/Viking), a Founding Editor of the International Journal of the History of Sport, other journals including Sport in Society and the series Sport in the Global Society. He has lectured worldwide and held fellowships (or their equivalent) in America (Berkeley), Africa, Australasia and England (Oxford and Cambridge). 'Manufactured' Masculinity has attracted exceptional acclaim in America, Africa, Asia, Australasia and Europe. Fan Hong is the Professor in Chinese Studies at University College Cork where she is the Head of the School of Asian Studies and Director of the Irish Institute of Chinese Studies. She is the President of Asian Studies Ireland Association and the Editor of Asian Studies Series. She is an academic editor of the International Journal of the History of Sport and a member of various editorial boards including the Sports Studies Journal and the International Encyclopaedia of Women and Sport. Her main research interests are in the areas of culture, politics, gender and sport with particular reference to Asia and China. She has published extensively in those fields.

1. Prologue: 'Middle Kingdom' Resurgent! Sports Dominance as Soft Power Politics on the Pacific Rim - Reflections on Rim Realpolitik J. A. Mangan China Post-Beijing 2008: Reflections from inside and Outside 2. Politics and the Olympic Transaction: Measuring China's Accomplishments Victor D. Cha 3. Chinese State Sports Policy: Pre- and Post-Beijing 2008 Fan Wei, Fan Hong and Lu Zhouxiang 4. Post-Beijing 2008 and Confucian Outreach in a New Game: China's Next Move Kevin Caffrey 5. Asia Pride, China Fear, Tokyo Anxiety: Japan Looks Back at Beijing 2008 and Forward to London 2012 and Tokyo 2016 William W. Kelly Post-Beijing 2008: Eastern Pacific Perspectives 6. Beijing 2008: Symbolic Hegemonic Assertion? South Korean Media Reactions and Responses to the Chinese Olympics J. A. Mangan and Gwang Ok 7. Bigger than Beijing 2008: Politics, Propaganda and Physical Culture in Pyongyang Udo Merkel 8. Post-Beijing 2008: Generating Indonesia's Self-Esteem Rusli Lutan 9. Reading American Readings of Beijing 2008 Mark Dyreson 10. The Geopolitical Balance of the Asia-Pacific Region Post-Beijing 2008: An Australian Perspective Peter Horton Post-Beijing 2008: Western Pacific Rim Responses 11. Too Far and Too Remote! European Indifference to the Impact of Beijing 2008 on the Pacific Rim Thierry Terret 12. After Beijing 2008: The Need for Sports to Foster Cooperation as well as Competition in an Increasingly Global World Roberta J. Park 13. One World, Real World, Memory and Dream: Shadows of the Past and Images of the Future in Contemporary Asian Sports Internationalisms John D. Kelly 14. Epilogue: Branding China: The Beijing Olympics and Beyond Fan Hong