The cries for a formal boycott of the Chinese Olympics are becoming louder. Though unwilling to endorse such sentiment, several prominent western world leaders, including Angela Merkel, Gordon Brown, Nikolas Sarkozy, and Stephen Harper have announced that they will at least meet the activists halfway, and boycott the games' opening ceremonies in Beijing.

The debate over whether or not dictatorial regimes should be permitted to host the Olympics is as old as the Olympics themselves. At the end of the day, it all boils down to an even older debate about engagement vs. disengagement.

What do you think we should do? Post in my forum.