Uniquely focused on the Asian Games, this is an historical analysis of the relationship between sport and national identity in Asia, tracing the development of the Games from 1913 to 2006 and relating this history to the wider geopolitical context.

Prologue: the Origin of the Asian Games: Power and Politics 1. India and the Asian Games: From Infancy to Maturity 2. Indonesia and the Asian Games: Sport, Nationalism and the 'New Order' 3.The Politicisation of Sport: GANEFO - A Case Study 4. Thailand and the Asian Games: Coping with the Crisis 5. Iran and the Asian Games: the Largest Sports Event in the Middle East 6. South Korea and the Asian Games: the First Step to the World 7. Communist China and the Asian Games: The Thirty-Nine Year Struggle to Victory 8. Qatar 2006 Asian Games: A 'Modernisation' Project from Above? Epilogue: Nationalism, Orientalism and Globalisation: the Future of the Asian Games