Sports Diplomacy and Emergent Nationalism

Football Links between the Two Yemens, 1970-1990

Authors: Stevenson, Thomas B.; Alaug, Abdul Karim

Source: Anthropology of the Middle East, Volume 3, Number 2, Autumn 2008 , pp. 1-19(19)

Publisher: Berghahn Journals

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Abstract:

In the 1970s and 1980s, North and South Yemen appeared to be two states pursuing opposing, sometimes hostile, economic and political policies. Then, in 1990, they suddenly united. This article analyses sport diplomacy as an instrument in opening institutional contacts between the two governments and as a venue for conveying important socio-political and historical messages. Cross-border football contests reinforced the largely invented notion of a single Yemen derived from pre-Islamic kingdoms. This idea remains a foundation of Yemeni nationalism and a base of Yemeni national identity.

Keywords: FOOTBALL; INVENTED TRADITION; NATIONAL IDENTITY; NATIONALISM; SPORTS DIPLOMACY; UNIFICATION; YEMEN

Document Type: Research article

DOI: 10.3167/ame.2008.030202

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