LONDON — The Chinese government sought the 2008 Games for Beijing to promote Chinese national interests. There is nothing new or exceptional about Chinese motives. Britain sought the 2012 Games for London for political purposes as well.
Then Prime Minister Tony Blair and Ken Livingstone, the mayor of London, wanted the Olympics to boost their own prestige and to seek wider political support. The expenses of the Games were grossly underestimated and will cost Londoners dear. It is doubtful whether the improved infrastructure resulting from the Games will be worth the disruption they will cause, but we are stuck with them and will have to make the best of the situation.
Previous Olympic hosts have had similar objectives. Some countries such as Australia were less blatant about the self-promotion involved and as a result may have benefited more through the Games. The Tokyo Olympics of 1964 did contribute to the modernization of Japanese infrastructure and gave Japan a welcome morale and economic boost. The Munich Games were marred by terrorism and the Moscow Games by boycotts induced by the Soviet Union's 1979 invasion of Afghanistan.