Investigating the Role and Impact of Sports Diplomacy in International Relations

With the expansion of the process of globalization and the transition from hard power and emphasis on soft power, various types of diplomacy were introduced in this field, among which we can mention sports diplomacy. This type of diplomacy can be considered as "public diplomacy", which is used to improve the mid-term and long-term relations between governments by influencing the general public abroad to achieve foreign policy goals. Therefore, the present article, which seeks to study the role and impact of sports diplomacy in international relations, will examine the issue of sports in the form of sports diplomacy after expanding the conceptual space of the research topic. According to the thematic documentation presented in this article, the question that can be asked is what effect does sports diplomacy have on international relations? The research method used is descriptive-analytical and the data collection method is library method. The findings of this article indicate that sports diplomacy is a subset of public diplomacy in which the public diplomacy, under the rules of sport, pursues a policy of sharing norms between nations, which at the same time can facilitate cooperation, strengthen intercultural understanding, and eliminate alienation or separation between peoples and governments.