Hitler. olympics in 1936, Gone by 1945

USSR 1980, collapse 1991.

Yugoslavia, 1984, buhbye!

Japan 1940.. didn't even get to host them, still lost regime. Selection is enough even if canceled.

berlin, 1916, also counts.

Hosting the olympics in Beijing sets the clock ticking for communism in China. Assisting China in the olympics is assisting the inevitable freedom. China's form of goverment will change dramatically by 2020, guaranteed.

Sarajevo 1984.

china hopes to impress the world with its bullet trains and clean restrooms.

at least some of the visitors will encounter local people who will tell of real bullets, and dirty cells . . .

Sad thing is, I've seen interviews with people who are being forced into jails for voicing complaints about government action (or sent back to their countryside villages, far from Beijing). Apparently these occurrences are increasing in the run-up to the Olympics so that exactly what you suggest won't happen. I've never attended an Olympic games, but judging from experiences friends of mine have shared, it's pretty easy to avoid any contact with local people that the host country's government hasn't specifically sanctioned to represent it.

Let's hope that the Chinese government isn't as efficient at controlling their citizens as I'm afraid they might be.

What about Mexico, 1968?

Ten days before the Olympics, hundreds of student protesters were gunned down in the Tlatelolco massacre. A brutal action by a brutal government. No one has ever been held responsible.

As far as I can tell, Mexico is still around, with more or less the same system of government.

Mexico was a 1-party state, and in 1978 they rewrote the election laws.

Meanwhile, I'm not saying the Chinese will be in for a smooth ride. The post-olympic revolution is often bloody. But the government changes within 12 years, one way or another.

China has been moving towards a more open, free and liberal state for nearly years, and will continue to, with or without the olympics. Again, it boggles the mind that Americans believe this will mean democracy - Democracy ain't what its cracked up to be, at least when the institutions that its principles are maintained are run by men!. The Chinese understand this and that's why it will not adopt such institutional symbols in the near future. Your guess is fairly accurate though - by 2020 China will have opened up further than ever, but dont ever kid yourself it will be the USA, it will be a more advanced system than the US - will be an open system but it still will be able to keep in check the 1.5 billion citizens.

Interesting. I didn't know that the olympics had magical democratizing powers.

Guess I'll have to rethink my opinion of the olympics. I can no longer argue that they serve no useful purpose whatsoever.