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Held every four years, the Olympic Games is the most important international sporting event in the world. Its significance has meant that, at times, the Games have become a reflection of political and ideological conflicts, a platform for protests and boycotts.

In recent weeks we have seen how the Olympic torch, on its journey to the Chinese capital Beijing (host to this year's Games), has been obstructed in cities such as London, Paris and San Francisco. The reason: protests against the occupation of Tibet and the repression carried out there by the Chinese, and also, on a more general level, against the human rights situation in China, a country that is open to capitalism but that is ruled with an iron fist by the Chinese Communist Party.

The protests, fomented by human rights organisations and aided by new technologies (enabling people to organise themselves easily) have led political leaders to make comments. For example, the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, has said French attendance of the opening ceremony depends on the situation in Tibet; the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, and the British prime minister, Gordon Brown, have said they will not attend the opening ceremony (whilst stressing that they are not intending to boycott the Games); and the Democratic Party candidates for the US presidency, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, have urged the president, George Bush, to consider the possibility of not going. And, the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Jacques Rogge, has reminded China that it made a commitment to respect human rights.

Over the years, a number of political events have changed the history of the Olympic Games.