Ancient Olympic Truce Offers Illusion of Peace Amid Rising Global Conflict

Every few years, as the world turns its eyes toward the Olympic Games, an age-old tradition is revived: a call for a temporary truce among warring nations. This ancient pledge, originating in Greece to protect athletes and spectators traveling safely to Olympia for sacred competitions, now manifests as a United Nations-backed appeal for a 7-week pause on armed conflicts worldwide coinciding with the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics. But does this noble gesture hold any real weight in today’s fractured global arena? The cold facts say no. Since its modern rebirth in 1994 amid the bloodshed of Yugoslavia’s wars, the so-called...