Once upon a time, when the world was newer, nations actually called truces to existing wars so their athletes could participate without any hindrance in the ancient Olympic Games.

But this is the modern era. Self-serving national leaders now do their best to mix politics and the Olympics, a notion that goes against the spirit in which the games originally were conceived.

It’s not new, of course. World War I prevented Olympic Games from being held in 1916. The 1936 Berlin Olympics were touted by German dictator and Nazi bigot first class Adolf Hitler as a showcase destined to prove once and for all the superiority of the Aryan race. Instead, Hitler left the games fuming over African-American Jesse Owens’ dominance in the sprint races and broad jump.

World War II was not stopped for Olympic Games in 1940 and 1944. But the games resumed in 1948, though they were often an island of brotherhood in a sea of cold wars and other political turmoil.

The ostensibly nonpolitical International Olympic Committee has awarded the games to cities in a variety of nations, notwithstanding the political implications of some of the choices. Naturally that has fired up crusaders of every stripe around the globe.

At Melbourne in 1956, three nations boycotted over the Soviet repression of the Hungarian uprising.

At the Mexico City Olympics in 1968, a couple of athletes chose to make a political statement on the awards stand when they gave the black power salute as the U.S. National Anthem was being played. Fittingly, they were sent home; the Olympics is a venue for the world’s finest athletic competition, not for proliferation of political or social causes.

Four years later things got downright dangerous as Arab terrorists stormed an Israeli dormitory at the Munich Olympics. There were fatalities, but luckily, cooler heads prevailed and the games came to a more peaceful conclusion.

Apartheid was an issue in both the 1972 and 1976 Olympics, although only a few nations actually boycotted. In the 1976 Montreal Olympics, under pressure from The People’s Republic of China, Taiwan was effectively prevented from competing.

With Moscow the host city in 1980, the Soviet Union’s military invasion of Afghanistan convinced many national leaders, including U.S. President Jimmy Carter, to prevent their national teams from competing in the Moscow Olympics.

It was the communist nations’ turn in 1984, using the excuse of fears for their athletes’ safety but in reality a way of getting back at the West for the 1980 boycott.

A bomb was detonated at Atlanta’s Centennial Park during the 1996 Olympics. And in 2004, Iranian athletes refused to participate in any event where they had to compete with Israeli athletes.

Which brings us to the present. Beijing is the host city, bringing cries of opposition over China’s conflict with Tibet. The People’s Republic of China assumed control of Tibet in the early 1950s, driving the Buddhist spiritual leader known as the Dalai Lama into exile. In recent months, Tibetan monks have been pushing for independence but have been crushed by Chinese troops.

The result has been calls for boycotts and demonstrations surrounding the journey of the Olympic torch.

Participants in the ancient Olympic Games would turn over in their graves at the distractions fomented from the intended brotherhood .