For weeks, the news has been full of predictions that the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia could be the target of a terrorist attack, or at least an attempted attack, by extremists from the Caucasus region, a successor of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria.
Fears over an attack, however, have been overshadowed in recent days by other problems that are unrelated to fears about security. Among these problems are construction issues, allegations of corruption and kickbacks, inadequate facilities and the autocratic government's horrific treatment of the LGBT community.
With the Russian government spending an estimated $50 million on the games, these problems couldn't have come at a worse time for the Vladimir Putin regime. It seems that whatever the government does, something comes along to make the situation worse. Most recently, the homophobia actively on display in Russia hurt the situation.
When participating in an interview with the BBC, the mayor of Sochi, Anatoly Pakhomov, publicly declared his city 100 percent straight. When these are the kinds of things being said to international news organizations, the problems are as clear as day.
DePauw's student body is no stranger to controversies involving gay rights (the situation involving a glittering deer comes to mind). However, minor controversies such as a sparkling deer pale in comparison to the nationwide disaster created by a number of Russian policies. Despite all the talk of terrorist attacks, the real catastrophe at Sochi may come from a completely unexpected direction.
These problems add to the damage done to the Russian government's international reputation by events such as the Syria situation and arrests of Pussy Riot, a feminist punk rock group, giving the Olympics, an event usually used to heal country's political and diplomatic wounds, may in fact inflame Russia's wounds to new and unknown degrees. Whatever happens, the Sochi Olympics will likely not be the image reset that the oligarchs in Moscow want.
-Weber is a sophomore from Fort Wayne, Ind. majoring in History.
