We live in a world consumed with hatred, hostility and war but there seems to be one common thread for humanity.  Sports.  I am not saying sports are the answer to all our woes but it does seem to help.  People across the planet love to cheer for their favorite teams and players so why not take advantage of the situation.  To almost quote John Lennon, give sports a chance.

When the Ivory Coast qualified for the 2006 World Cup the citizens were engulfed in a brutal civil war but civic pride prevailed.  A cease fire was called and peace negotiations initiated because their World Cup squad needed the support of a unified nation.  Not too bad for a soccer team.  Granted soccer riots are not uncommon but imagine the comparative numbers beaten, murdered or killed across the planet for equally poor reasons.

Sports is the future for diplomacy.  Think of all the imports coming into the United States and the impact they have had on professional sports.  Ichiro and Hideki Matsui translated success in Japan to success in America along with other players from all over the world including the Far East and Latin America.  It wasn't that long ago Jackie Robinson was breaking the color barrier and now baseball is a multinational affair.  The United States didn't even win the inaugural World Baseball Classic and our basketball Dream Team has become a beatable target in international competition.  Yao Ming (China), Manu Ginobili (Argentina), Dirk Nowitzki (Germany) and Andre Kirilenko (Russia) were among the 82 players from 38 countries to be on active NBA rosters for the 2005-06 season.  I would say basketball is becoming very international so should diplomacy be far behind?  It can't hurt that children in China want to be like Yao, can it?  Seems like a boost for foreign policy to me.  Countries take pride in the players representing them in our country and they can become national heroes, why not mine that goodwill?

Hines Ward was treated as a national treasure when he traveled to South Korea after winning the Super Bowl.  He was born in the U.S but his mother is South Korean and that was enough.  Isn't that amazing?  The Home Run derby during the MLB All Star break is broken into players representing their native countries, the NHL stops the season during Olympic years so the players can participate for their home nations, and the World Cup goes unequaled in international appeal as sporting event go. 

I am not implying that the world's problems can be solved solely through sports, that would be naive, but it does seem like a resource waiting to be tapped for the greater good.  Maybe Iraq needs to set up a professional soccer league and then the rest will fall into place.  Who knows, but could it hurt to try?