A good week for grassroots activits - Susan Kaiser Greenland

It is a good week for grassroots activists the world over. For the first time leading up to the Beijing Olympics, Jacques Rogge came out of his coma and reversed his policy of silent diplomacy, confronting Wen Jiabao with the promises China made to the IOC before it was awarded the Olympic franchise. Rogge publicly asked China to respect two of its moral engagements: to improve its abysmal record on human rights and allow accredited foreign journalists to move freely in China and Tibet to report without constraints.

Meanwhile, it looks like there will be a lot of empty seats at the opening ceremonies. In foreign capitals around the globe diplomats and heads-of-state are canceling their plans to attend. This week the European Parliament adopted a non-binding resolution calling upon European leaders to consider the “option of non-attendance.” (Diplo-speak for “Don’t go”.) UN general Ban Ki-moon announced that “scheduling issues” would prevent him from attending. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Prime Minister of England Gordon Brown, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel all realized they too have something more important to do. French President Nicolas Sarkozy says he may boycott and, although it is unlikely President George Bush will shun the Games entirely, he has not agreed to attend the opening ceremony.

No wonder Rogge announced that the Olympics have plunged into crisis, the athletes are in “disarray,” and the Olympic torch relay has not been the “joyous party that we wished it would be.”

Why the diplomatic turnaround? Because throughout the free world, the Olympic torch cannot be carried a single block without meeting massive protests. Even the official torch companions - those innocuous looking members of the Chinese special police, suited up in blue track suits and jaunty caps, running along side the torch – can’t keep protestors at bay.

While we are a long way from having any meaningful impact on Chinese policy one thing is clear: The protests this week have impacted the tenor of the conversation between the IOC and the Chinese government about this summer’s Games, and helped persuade many foreign leaders to stay home. This is no small accomplishment. To the naysayers who said the demonstrations would be futile -– stay tuned to see what happens when word gets out Olympic athletes could be disqualified if they have a Tibetan flag in their rooms.

Crossposted from the Huffington Post.