The Deafening World Cup

I do not spend much time writing about my interests outside of marine mammal conservation. However, this week I would like to

World Cup Logo used pursuant to fair use doctrine.

take some time to talk about soccer and more specifically the World Cup. As my close friends and family know, I have been following it very closely over the last few weeks, and was among the millions of Americans thrilled to see the U.S. earn their way into the round of 16. I find soccer enthralling for so many reasons, but also find it an appropriate metaphor for larger socio-political issues facing our global civilization. Unfortunately, as I will elaborate on shortly, others find it a metaphor as well.

First, I want to talk about my fascination with the game. Recently while having dinner in Boston with a good friend, I was asked why I cared so much about the game. Having to pull my attention away from the France-Ecuador match to answer, I explained it was more than just my personal interest from having played as a youth. Indeed, my interest runs far deeper. On the most basic level I love losing myself for 90 minutes at a time in something that I have no control over, forgetting my problems while I watch top athletes battle for their country’s honor. Although some criticize the sport as boring because of its low scoring nature, appreciating the finer points of the game make it one of the most exciting sports to watch. Appreciating the organization of a team’s back line, or recognizing the discipline for teams to patiently control the ball while waiting for a lane to open up, gives the sport a charm and seductive nature that no other sport seems to have.

Taking a step back however it is impossible not to be fascinated by some of the political undercurrents that run deeper than a breaking striker. Every four years, nations come to this tournament. They agree to play by the same rules. They lay it all on the line for ninety minutes at a time, knowing that it will be four long years before they have the chance to make another statement or redeem past failures. France for example knows that all too well, as they had to wait four years to come out from the shadow of the infamous Zinedine Zidane head-butt in the ’06 tournament, only to have a disappointing result in the 2010 campaign and have to wait four more years. Even countries who might not have the best diplomatic relations respect each other on the soccer pitch.

This kind of international cooperation is necessary for tournaments like the World Cup. However, given the transnational nature of many international environmental issues, it is something nations could learn from. You may not like another nation or its actions, but if solutions are going to be reached it is imperative to respect them and play by the same rules. If highly migratory species like marine mammals are going to be conserved, nations must have an even playing field for their conservation. The air pollution of one nation does not care about diplomacy, and if the emission of gases contributing to climate change are going to be reduced, it needs to be a coordinated international effort.

In this sense, the U.S. government in particular could learn from the footballers that have captivated the nation adorned in their red, white, and blue. While the U.S World Cup team has met the rest of the world as equals, those in this nation continue to act superior to other nations in an unacceptable way. They recognize the need for climate discussions, but refuse to sign key international agreements, as they did when they refused to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, for example. Far more concerning is their failure to ratify the United Nations Law of the Sea Convention (“UNCLOS”), only to expect other nations to allow them to take the lead on global maritime issues. The U.S must ratify UNCLOS and must act as if we are just one part of the global maritime puzzle, instead of the most important piece.

Unfortunately, the mentality that has resulted to disappointments with regard to U.S. foreign policy lead others to see America’s growing interest with soccer as a far more ominous metaphor. Recently, well-known conservative pundit Ann Coulter blasted the sport, claiming that “America’s Favorite National Pastime is Hating Soccer” and that, “Any growing interest in soccer can only be a sign of the nation’s moral decay.” Her reasons behind this statement?  (1) Individual achievement is not important, (2) the sport is one that woman can compete on the same field as men, (3) the sport ends in too many scoreless ties, and that apparently (4) the prospect of either personal humiliation or major injury are required for something to be a sport, or as she considers it “sublimated warfare.”

Her first point is just wrong. Individual achievement is recognized. Just ask some of the game’s current greats like Messi, Ronaldo, and Neymar if they have had an increase in attention because of their success on the soccer field. However, more erroneous in her statement is the idea that personal achievement is the most important factor, rather than the results. For example, George Washington, the county’s first President, voluntarily stepped down after two terms. While it is easy to imagine what other personal achievements might have been reached by Washington had he stayed, he instead put aside personal accomplishments for the advancement of American democracy. This tradition lasted until Franklin Delano Roosevelt occupied the oval office, after which time it was written into law. These statements reveal a fundamental flaw held by some Americans, which is a disproportional obsession with status and personal achievement over results.

As for her disappointment in the number of scoreless ties, it is indicative of a culture that demands instant gratification, ignoring the far greater process that led to the result. If Robert Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken” had been written about her, it would have ended with “I took the more traveled of the roads, and ultimately made no difference.” Such comments are just the latest in a constantly shortening national attention span.

The true tragedy of her thinking, and the nation’s reluctance to act as equals with other nations’ is that she, like our foreign policy leaders, are well educated. She, like many of the politicians and diplomats in Washington, has a law degree. Yet they confuse us being the greatest nation in the world with a flawed and deeply troubling attitude they suggests that we do not have to co-exist with other nations or that global problems do not impact us to the same level that they impact other nations.

The World Cup is definitely deafening in the volume of the fans that crowd the stadiums to cheer on their country. However, it is also deafening in the lessons it can provide. Contrary to Ann Coulter’s ill-informed comments, soccer has become the world’s favorite sport because it allows everyone, regardless of their socio-economic standing, to be treated as equals and respected. It allows an escape from whatever else is happening in one’s life to lay it all on the line for 90 hard fought minutes (more if they go into extra-time). In many ways, it is the epitome of how various nations can and should act in regards to each other when it comes time to sit around the diplomatic table. Unfortunately, if we continue to ignore the deafening world cup, we will never find the needed solutions.