Balancing opportunity and risk – security at Sochi 2014
Hosting an Olympic Games tends to raise the blood pressure of anyone involved, both in terms of the opportunity it presents and the subsequent risks associated with it, and Sochi 2014 has more than its fair share of those. For Russia, and President Vladimir Putin, hosting the 2014 Winter Olympic Games has been seized as an opportunity to introduce the world to the ‘new’ self-confident Russia, one that is flourishing economically, and has, especially over the past year, reasserted itself as an influential global power. A lavish $50 billion has been spent on converting a sub-tropical, Black Sea resort into a world-class centre for winter sports within seven years, making it the most expensive Olympic Games, summer or winter, in history. However, the opportunity can be contrasted against the risks that hosting the Olympics in Russia brings. Aside from the negative publicity around Russia’s legislation on gay rights and President Putin’s subsequent clumsy comments on the issue, a terrorist attack in Russia during the Games would be a disaster.
Sochi is situated on the Black Sea coastline within 300 miles of Russia’s volatile North Caucasus region, home to both Chechnya and Dagestan, centres of Islamist extremist activity. Insurgents from the region have threatened attacks on the Games for a number of years. Over the past 15 years, these groups have demonstrated their ability to strike targets in the heart of Russia as they’ve sought to make the Russian Government, under Putin’s leadership since 1999, pay for its military actions in the Caucusus. Read more
