Arielle Dreher | Editor-in-Chief 

Russia is likely to have been in your news feed lately with hot headlines featuring infamous NSA document leaker Edward Snowden who is currently vacationing in Moscow, anti-gay propaganda and Syria. It seems almost ironic that a previously dormant behemoth of a country like Russia, that faded with the collapse of the Berlin Wall, will launch into the spotlight again starting in February when Sochi hosts the XXII Olympic Games. These are the first Winter Games to be held in Russia.

Sochi is situated on the coast of the Black Sea, as close to the continent of Europe as possible. Besides location, what does it mean to Russia and the world that Sochi will host the XXII Olympic Winter Games?

Sochi has a population of 400,000 people and is situated in Krasnodar, which is the third most populated federal subject in Russia. It is a coastal town situated on the eastern side of the Black Sea and the most southwestern part of Russia.

The Games in Sochi will cost an estimated $51 billion, the most expensive Olympics to date. Russia is spending millions of dollars on the infra- structure as well as a road to get from Sochi to the “mountain sports cluster” in Krasnya Polyana, which needed to be paved for spectators and athletes to get up to the mountains for the snow sports. Sochi is traditionally a beach resort town, and to prevent a shortage of snow, The Guardian reported that Olympic organizers will begin stock- piling snow in February as well as utilizing snow machines. Construction has limited local residents access to resources since an all-hands effort has been implemented for preparations for the Games. Besides the local residents, national issues have been in the news lately regarding Russia as a host.

Melissa Samarin, a recent graduate from the University of Oxford with a Master’s in Russian and Eastern European Studies, has studied and kept up with the political and social movements in Russia.

“Sochi is really far south, and it’s considered warm for Russia, ” Samarin said. Sochi is located nearer Europe than Moscow, specifically close to parts of old Soviet nations that have experienced turmoil in the past including Chechnya, a republic of Russia, and Georgia, the country . The Caucasus Mountains, the mountain range that separates Russia from Georgia and provides a natural split between Europe and Asia, are a pock- et of unrest and have been for years due to bad governance and power consolidation issues Samarin said. In the past Russia and Georgia have gone to war over these regions on the border, and conflicts have persisted due to religious and cultural intolerance. Samarin also mentioned that initially the Olympic committee was concerned about Sochi as a location, but tensions have significantly eased since 2008, although the conflicts are far from resolved.

Russia’s International Relations

The Russian government had recently banned gay propaganda, and there is speculation about whether or not gay contestants or fans will be welcome in Sochi. President Putin calmed nerves by issuing a statement declaring that all gay participants and onlookers will be accepted.

“There is a law in Russia that you are not allowed to protest based on individual identity; you can’t stage a public protest on individual identity or gender,” Samarin said. “Putin said, ‘We will let them [gays] in,’ but there is still speculation about how that will be handled.”

Initially, the Russian government announced that the use of social media would be prohibited during the games, but that has since been re- pealed. Journalists are allowed to use their smartphones, but taking videos is still strictly forbidden. Regardless of Russia’ s appearance in controversial news topics lately, there is and always has been tension between the United States and Russia. Regardless of past tensions, the Olympic Games should not affect U.S.-Russia relations unless something unprecedented happens, Samarin said.

“It is a good thing that Russia is holding it [the Olympics] because they are trying to be a part of the international community, but on the other hand, it is speculative because Putin has been muddling in a lot,” Samarin said. Commentators have said that the Winter Games might be a distraction from controversial dealings Russia has in other countries, and in her past experience, Russia is a fairly unpredictable country Samarin said.

“Objectively speaking, when Olympics time comes, right before there will probably be some outbursts…but once they start, they should go smoothly, ” Samarin said.

The past historical facts about the relationship between Russia and the U.S. typically revolve around a conversation about the Cold War, but there is more to the story than that. There seems to still be an underlying competition between the U.S. and Russia to- day, even if it is nonviolent in nature.

Dr. Dave Lambert, a professor of U.S. history at APU, said that lately, Russia has been on a roll with its foreign policy, and the Olympics are a part of that. Russia is flexing its diplomatic muscle of late vis-à-vis the U.S. Lambert said. In international diplomacy, Russia’s stance on most things are of importance to the U.S.

“They [Russia] are important be- cause the security council of the U.N. has five permanent members, and they are on it,” Lambert said. “If any one of them says no, then it doesn’t happen.” Lambert also said that usually China or Russia are on the opposite side of the U.S. in the U.N. negotiations on security.

Syria and other conflicts

A direct point of contention currently revolves around Syria. Most of Syria’s arsenal is out of Russian sup- plies. Russia also has a port in Syria, and the U.S. has been upset with the former about that too, Lambert said. Regardless, Russia has supported Syria before the U.S. even got involved asking Syria to kindly dismantle its nuclear and chemical weapons. After Albania respectfully declined to be the host country for dismantling the weapons, the US and Russia had to make a plan, to be approved by the U.N. The new location for dismantling the weapons is not yet determined.

The conflict in Syria directly affects U.S.-Russia relations, and according to the BBC, agreements about the removal of chemical weapons from Syria were reached back in September be- tween the U.S. and Russia, in compliance with the U.N. Security Council. There have been uprisings in Syria since 2011 by military groups seeking to get President Bashar al-Assad out of office. The U.S. pushed for a resolution “carrying the threat of military action against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s armed forces,” and Russia opposed this for a while. After months of discussion, Syria is set to comply with the U.N. resolution and remove all chemical weapons in the first half of 2014.

Meanwhile in Chechnya, Russia, some 12 hours east of Sochi, Chechnyans are training and sending men to help in the Syrian rebellion, aiding different groups to topple President Bashar al-Assad.

Thus, the stubborn relationship between the U.S. and Russia continues. Add to the Middle East drama the fact that Russia granted asylum to the infamous Snowden, and you get a slightly touchy relationship between the two world powers.

“There is still a feeling that we sort of trust them but we really don’t, and they sort of trust us but really don’t,” Lambert said.

Of course, there are some people who believe that between Snowden and Syria, the U.S. should boycott the Olympics. U.S. Senator Lindsey

Graham, R-S.C., made a statement to NBC News saying that “playing host of the games gives Russia a propaganda platform to promote itself at a time when, he contends, the Russians are responsible for enabling Iran’ s nu- clear program, threatening Israel and supporting Bashar Assad in Syria. ”

U.S. House Speaker John Boehner later called him dead wrong, not that it matters anyway since the U.S. Olympic Committee decides whether or not the U.S. participates, not the government.

Despite the political history be- tween the U.S. and Russia, we should probably be aware of the political ironies of the XXII Winter Olympics and then sit back and enjoy the powder, tricks, and speed of the Winter Games. Bring it, Sochi.