The shape of the international landscape today was carved by diplomatic dialogue, as diplomacy is what creates world order. It is the platform that brings world leaders together in an attempt to agree on mutual interest, or resolve international crisis.
The Boxer Rebellion, a bloody uprising in China at the turn of the 20th century against foreigners, is a relatively obscure historical event with far-reaching consequences that nevertheless is often remembered because of its unusual name. The Boxers. Who exactly were the Boxers? They were members of a secret society made up mostly of peasants in northern China known as I-ho-ch'uan (Righteous and Harmonious Fists) and were called the Boxers by the Western press; members of the secret society practiced boxing and calisthenic rituals that they thought would make them impervious to bullets and attacks, and this led to their unusual but memorable name.
At this point, the only serious challenge to the hegemony of long johns had come from the boxer short, a cotton version of the trunks worn by boxers, and first designed in 1925 by a Joseph Golomb, founder of the Everlast company that still makes boxing equipment.