Olympics demonstrates what a better future could be

Humanity has never lived under a single unified world order. Order, when maintained, has only been achieved within the shifting bounds of limited regions. Today, the several orders that govern our world impact each other with increasing frequency and magnified effects.

The Olympic Games exemplifies the positive possibilities of the modern world's unprecedented interconnection. Under the auspices of the Games, in spite of the differences in culture and history that define their diverse systems, the nations of the world gladly take the opportunity to come together. In the peaceful competition of the Olympics, the achievement of one nation encourages the efforts of others, spurring all on to new heights in human excellence.

When Baron Pierre de Coubertin revived the ancient Olympic tradition in 1894, his political world was dominated by suspicion. The map of Europe had been redrawn and psychological adjustments to the change were still underway; imperial ambitions were causing dislocation and conflict around the world; and stability on the continent, though attained for the time being, felt - and was - impermanent. But de Coubertin managed to transcend this historical moment with a vision of amity and trust, inspired by a ritual originating from a place and time still more turbulent than his own.