Commentary
The country’s leadership is increasingly uneasy about multiple challenges from the Levant to the South Caucasus.
Armenak Tokmajyan
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Source: Getty
In The Media
Do the Sochi Olympics Reflect Russia’s Reality?
American perceptions of Russia differ greatly from the reality in the country and the changes that have occurred since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Published on Feb 9, 2014
Source: MSNBC’s Weekends With Alex Witt
Speaking with MSNBC’s Alex Witt, Carnegie’s Andrew Weiss explained that the corruption in Sochi can largely be attributed to the “Klondike”-like atmosphere tied with a such a major development project. “Anyone who could get one of this construction contracts, anyone whose relatives could get involved in the construction projects seized on that opportunity,” he said. At the same time, Weiss emphasized that American perceptions of Russia differ greatly from the reality in the country and the changes that have occurred since the collapse of the Soviet Union. There are still serious problems in Russia, but many people still have a “frozen in time” image of the country that is not accurate. “It’s amazing Russia has $50 billion to spend on an Olympics at the moment,” Weiss said. “That’s not something that any of the people in the field would have anticipated ten year [or] twenty years ago.”
Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.
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