This interdisciplinary case study invokes historical, sociological, and anthropological means to examine the ascendance of the United States to a world power in its first imperial venture. In the aftermath of the Spanish-American War of 1898 the U.S. acquired and occupied the Philippine Islands for nearly a half century in an attempt to install a democratic form of government, a capitalist economy, the Protestant religion, and a particular value system. Sport became a primary means to achieve such goals, fostered initially by the military, and then widely promoted in the schools and the YMCA. Competitive programs, including international athletic spectacles, channeled Filipino nationalism against Asian rivals rather than the American occupiers as guerrilla warfare ensued in the islands. The strategies learned in the Philippines, now known as “soft power” remain prominent factors in current American foreign policy.

"Sport and the American Occupation of the Philippines is notable for making events come alive and for bringing important figures of history down from the pedestal to portray them as human beings whose lives and personalities are often flawed and multifaceted. The author manages to reveal interesting insights into many well-known individuals’ overall characters, as well as their contemporaries’ opinion of them, making the discussion very informative and engaging. . . Moreover, the author does not just highlight the specific sports that these important historical figures played or followed but also links their personalities to the sociopsychological and moral structures that are associated with sports. By turning politicians into fencers and generals into football players, Gems successfully presents the embeddedness of sports not only in history but also in the individual biographies of its main characters." - Journal of Sport History