More than 2,000 years ago, the Greek orator Isocrates observed that athletic festivals allowed people to set aside their conflicts, gather together and renew bonds to unite them. The ancient Greeks understood something: Sports have always been a form of diplomacy.

That insight feels especially relevant today as the United States enters what may be the most consequential decade of international sport in its history. Between 2026 and 2034, North America will host an extraordinary sequence of global events: the FIFA World Cup, the Military World Games, the Olympic and Paralympic Games in L.A. and the FIFA Women’s World Cup, and the Salt Lake City Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games. No country has ever hosted such a concentration of global sports in such a short period.

In a world shaped by geopolitical rivalry, economic competition and political polarization, sports remain one of the few truly global languages we share. Nations compete fiercely on the field, yet still shake hands at the final whistle. It is one of the rare arenas where countries can express national pride without deepening divisions.

Sports have often succeeded where politics struggled. Ping-pong diplomacy helped reopen dialogue between the U.S. and China in the 1970s. Olympic competition provided a rare point of contact between Cold War rivals. Athletes have advanced conversations about opportunity and equality around the world when governments could not.

Yet sports can also reflect and surface geopolitical tensions. Recent U.S.-Canada hockey matchups during........

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