{"id":540,"date":"2014-02-24T17:09:48","date_gmt":"2014-02-24T23:09:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.cuchicago.edu\/spectator\/?p=540"},"modified":"2014-02-24T17:09:48","modified_gmt":"2014-02-24T23:09:48","slug":"saving-face-how-the-sochi-olympics-benefit-vladimir-putin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spectator.cuchicago.edu\/?p=540","title":{"rendered":"Saving Face: How the Sochi Olympics Benefit Vladimir Putin"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"International<\/a>
International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach, third left, speaks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, third right, as gold medallist in the four-man bobsleigh Alexander Zubko, second right, looks on during the closing ceremony on Feb. 23. Former IOC President Jacques Rogge stands on left.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Written by Josh Heine<\/p>\n

Since its creation over a century ago, the modern Olympic Games have been a prestigious event that all countries have vied to host. While the goal of the games is improved international cooperation through peaceful, international sport, the games provide far more than a peaceful enterprise.<\/p>\n

Many nations host the Olympic Games in order to demonstrate their strength and importance, as China did during the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Japan, whose capital will host the 2020 Olympics, views the games as means to bolster their faltering economy. London used the opportunity of its Olympics to repair some of its deteriorated sections.<\/p>\n

In addition, the\u00a0Olympics\u00a0are wildly popular and could provide a domestic popularity boost for the\u00a0hosting country’s leader. The Olympics provide money for the host country as well as extra scrutiny in the months prior.<\/p>\n

The Sochi Olympics are a boon for President Vladimir Putin, as their popularity removes attention from important issues and improves his ratings.<\/p>\n

The opening days of the Sochi Olympics revealed numerous problems facing Russia. Reporters recounted stories of stalls filled with two toilets, toxic waste emitting from sinks, unpaved sidewalks and landfills of construction materials. However, these problems are nothing compared to the issues that they have replaced.<\/p>\n

In prior months, new agencies reported numerous stories regarding human rights violations in Russia. Russia\u2019s actions towards homosexuals have been well documented and criticized by many human rights organizations, including the United Nations.<\/p>\n

Another major issue concealed by the Olympics is the continuing tensions in the North Caucasus, an area in southwestern Russia that borders the Black and Caspian Seas and Georgia. As home to many of Russia\u2019s minorities, the region is engulfed in territorial disputes, religious and ethnic tensions, corruption and Islamist insurgency. In addition, the North Caucasus also receives unequal political representation compared to the ethnic Russian-majority of the nation. Two of the territories, Chechnya and Dagestan, are infamous as insurgent strongholds that continually threaten Russia\u2019s internal security, including the Olympics.<\/p>\n

The major insurgent threat is by \u201cblack widows\u201d, widowed Islamic women whose husbands died in combat with Russian soldiers. However, this threat, and others facing Russian security, are no longer discussed frequently due to attention paid to the games themselves.<\/p>\n

Most Russians hold a favorable opinion of the Olympic proceedings thus far, as the games proceeded smoothly with Russian athletes garnering 33 medals, including 13 gold.<\/p>\n

Not surprisingly, the\u00a0state media is overwhelmingly praising the Olympics and exalting Putin as a fantastic leader for bringing the games to Russia. In addition, various Russian athletes have displayed their support for the President.<\/p>\n

After securing the gold medal for Russia\u2019s skating team, Evgeni Plushenko commented that Putin was an excellent leader and thanked Putin publicly for bringing the games to Sochi. While Plushenko may have been coerced into supporting Putin publicly, this is, unfortunately, inconsequential, as Putin will garner more support regardless.<\/p>\n

While the attention regarding the Olympics is temporary, it has granted Putin temporary relief from more severe scrutiny from the international community. In addition, the Olympics will give Putin a temporary popularity boost, which will provide relief from his people as well. Though Putin must eventually face the world once the games end, for now he can enjoy some respite courtesy of the Sochi Olympics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Written by Josh Heine Since its creation over a century ago, the modern Olympic Games have been a prestigious event that all countries have vied to host. While the goal of the games is improved international cooperation through peaceful, international sport, the games provide far more than a peaceful enterprise. Many nations host the Olympic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":542,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-540","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-events"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spectator.cuchicago.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/540","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spectator.cuchicago.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spectator.cuchicago.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spectator.cuchicago.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/42"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spectator.cuchicago.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=540"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/spectator.cuchicago.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/540\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spectator.cuchicago.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/542"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spectator.cuchicago.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spectator.cuchicago.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spectator.cuchicago.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}