In the spring of 2008, the Olympic torch wended its way around the globe on its way to Beijing. It was due to arrive by 8 p.m. on the 8th of August at the Bird’s Nest stadium, to light the cauldron and open the summer Olympics after a ceremony of fanfare and drumbeat. After two decades of rocketing growth and rising prosperity, many Chinese citizens felt this was finally an opportunity to be proud of their nation’s accomplishments. Yet in Europe and North America, a firecracker string of