I asked a similar question a while back (just after reading Devil in the White City). /u/Searocksandtrees had some good links for further reading.

To expand on this question, I would like to hear from someone with sources about some of the more political aspects of supporting the World Fair. Outside of changes in mass media, I am aware that often these events begin to be part of a diplomatic game.

For example, my friend worked for the Department of State at the time of the World's Fair being in Shanghai, and she (specifically in matters regarding China, from a fairly informed position, but not not one I can cite as an accurate resource), often talked about DoS limiting expenditures by the US at that World Fair in particular.

I presume that once such an event becomes a pawn, no matter how minor, that its impact and grandiosity is quickly reduced. What are some similar events that have undergone similar decline from both a change in available media and politics or solely just politics?