At the NATO summit this weekend, the alliance decided to enter into closer cooperation with Russia and launched 2014 as the year of withdrawal from Afghanistan. 2014 is not any year for Russia; this is the year when the Russian Federation will host the Winter Olympics for the first time. Security is going to be a hot topic in the Olympics. It might therefore be convenient to have a good relationship with NATO.

George W. Bush does not spend much time on sports politics in his autobiography. He should have. The book focuses on 14 important decisions in Bush's life (decision points) and it is said to include six key revelations. Among the important decisions ("the most consequential decisions") are the decision in 1986 to stop drinking, the decision to go to war in Iraq in 2003 and the measures to cure the financial crisis in 2008. The question is if he should have used more pages on his passion for baseball? I think so!

Crikey! There is so much stuff coming in about sports corruption this week it is difficult to sort it all out.

Canadian reporter Declan Hill comments on the newest FIFA corruption case and the Sunday Times investigation that brought it out in the open.

Just a month after India concluded the Commonwealth Games, China is hosting the Asian Games. The Games are taking place in Guangdong Province between 12 - 27 November, mainly in the city of Guangzhou.

China is a text-book case of why you cannot wait to uproot corruption. The Chinese soccer leagues are a national disgrace and an international joke. Do not take my word for it. The top Chinese politican – President Hu Jintao – has declared his embarrassment over the state of their sport. However, the Chinese government has waited far too long to fight it.

Yet again, the Nobel Peace Prize did not go to the IOC. This year the prize went to Liu Xiaobo – the Chinese dissident – who criticized those who wanted to boycott the Beijing Olympics because that would deteriorate the human rights situation in China.

With kids in sports, parents struggle with two images of reality. Either you see your child – or the children of others – as talented or as hopeless cases. Many parents easily see that a child is talented. What most people mean by talent is that the child can be great when she/he enters adulthood. Children’s talents are thus seen in the context of an adult world.

Tony Blair's book "A Journey" has put the spotlight back on his controversial time as Prime Minister. In the memoir, Blair exposes himself and people he has met, and of course it is his relationship with Gordon Brown and his decision to support the U.S. in the war in Iraq that has so far received the most attention.

In less than two years time, London will host the 2012 Olympic Games, and, as hosts, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (GB) can enter a team without needing to qualify. Author and journalist Steve Menary comments on the composition of the GB team.