© Columbia University Press
Beyond the Final Score: The Politics of Sport in Asia
December, 2008
Cloth, 200 pages, 15 illus; 5 tables
ISBN: 978-0-231-15490-1
$27.95
/ £18.95
"[Cha] illuminates both the good and the bad roles sports can play into a society." — Song Woong-ki, Korea Herald
"A profound study of the cultural and political dynamics of the Asia-Pacific region." — Jean Brisebois, Taiwan Today
"This is a thematically strong and informative book. As Victor D. Cha shows, sport is not just sport. Sport both expresses and influences some of the most dramatic developments in society and politics." — Andrew J. Nathan, Columbia University
"Reading Beyond the Final Score during the Beijing Olympic Games was like having a side-door opened on the back story. Victor D. Cha not only illuminates the myriad ways in which sports have helped illuminate the societies that hold such international sporting events, but he also reminds us how they have catalyzed relations between countries, both for good and ill. Beyond the Final Score is a fun book about a serious topic." — Orville Schell, Arthur Ross director, The Center on US-China Relations at the Asia Society
"Beyond the Final Score provides wonderful insights into how sport and politics are a potent combination in an Asia buffeted by nationalism, shared identity, and pride. While offering insightful accounts of Asia's contemporary sporting events-the first Olympics in Japan, the Korean World Cup, the hard-fought Little League contests, and the recent drama of the Olympics in Beijing-Victor D. Cha explains how and why sports provide a complex venue for strategic competition and cultural dynamics across the region. With the rise of Asia and its gaining strategic importance to the United States, Americans need to be more attuned to all aspects of Pacific politics. Cha has written an essential guide to how and why the playing fields of the Asian-Pacific region matter to us all." — Kurt M. Campbell, chief executive officer and cofounder, Center for a New American Security (CNAS)
"In a style both meticulous and delightfully absorbing, Victor D. Cha uses his rare, firsthand knowledge of diplomacy in Asia to construct an insightful theory on the space in which sport and politics interact. One is hard-pressed to imagine anyone more qualified to perform the task. As former director of Asian affairs at the National Security Council and a highly skilled practitioner and scholar on northeast Asian affairs, Cha brings a clear expertise to Korean peninsular issues as well as an intimate familiarity with Japan and China. Add to the mix an impressive grasp of the history and politics of sport, and the result is a truly distinctive, fascinating contribution to scholarship on the dynamics of Northeast Asia." — Yoichi Funabashi, editor in chief, The Asahi Shimbun