The 1980 Moscow Olympic Boycott as a Tool of American Foreign Policy
Abstract
This thesis explores the United States’ boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics as a tool of American foreign policy. The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979 which prompted US President Jimmy Carter to impose sanctions on the Soviets, including a boycott of the Moscow Games. The purpose of the paper is to explore why the boycott failed to achieve Carter’s objectives and evaluate what the President may have considered to substantially increase its success. Carter’s dealings with essential groups within the Olympic movement, such as the United States Olympic Committee (USOC), International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the Olympic athletes, as well as foreign leaders, will be critically evaluated. The paper argues that Carter failed at convincing these essential groups to support a boycott and offers some thoughts as to what the President might have considered to increase his chance of success. The thesis concludes by critically evaluating how Carter sought to promote the boycott and offers an analysis on the effectiveness of using the Olympics to advance a nation’s foreign policy agenda.