Gold medal experts available for Sochi games

David Ruth
713-348-6327
david@rice.edu

Jeff Falk
713-348-6775
jfalk@rice.edu

Gold medal experts available for Sochi games

HOUSTON — (Jan. 23, 2014) – The following Rice University experts are available to discuss various issues surrounding the XXII Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia. The Olympics run from Feb. 7 to Feb. 23.

Richard (Ric) Stoll, who is the Albert Thomas Chair in Political Science and a scholar at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, can discuss the threat of terrorism during the Olympics.

“Although it is not likely that a terrorist attack will occur, the threat needs to be taken seriously,” Stoll said. “We have experienced such attacks twice (Munich in 1972 and Atlanta in 1996). As well, Russia has a problem with terrorism. For a terrorist group seeking attention, it is hard to imagine a more visible ‘stage’ than the Olympics.”

Anastasiya Zavyalova, assistant professor of strategic management at Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Business, has researched the negative events in organizations (for example, product recalls, on-campus murders and NCAA scandals in U.S. universities and child abuse scandals in the Catholic Church) and the role of the media during negative events.

“As with most highly publicized events, the 2014 Sochi games are going to place Russia under the media spotlight,” Zavyalova said. “This event presents an opportunity for Russia to show its hospitality and demonstrate its ability to hold such large-scale events. This is also a challenge, as every detail surrounding the Olympics will be scrutinized. I expect that remarks made by Russian politicians and other public figures on the issue of (lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender) rights will be subject to extremely negative, as well as extremely positive, interpretations by the international media. The president’s (Vladimir Putin’s) unequivocal anti-gay stance is likely to create enemies, but it will also make friends in the world arena.”

Jonathan Ludwig, senior lecturer of Russian in Rice’s Center for Languages and Intercultural Communication, teaches Russian language and literature, as well as topics as diverse as the March 2005 Kyrgyz Revolution, Russian-American cooperation and the United States’ role in the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

“In much the same way that the Beijing Olympics introduced a modern China to the world, Vladimir Putin hopes that the Sochi Olympics will re-introduce Russia and project its strength in the region,” Ludwig said. “What the opening and closing ceremonies contain will say much about the image that Mr. Putin hopes to project for Russia into the future. The biggest challenge he faces is that he has put his personal and professional prestige on the line in hosting these games, and he faces a number of hurdles in putting on a successful games: He has chosen a city that traditionally does not have much snow; he has tried to secure the Olympics, which are taking place in a historically troubled region, by establishing a 1,500-mile security zone and is preventatively rounding up or eliminating possible threats, something for which he has already faced much criticism. Likewise, he is facing criticism for attempting to stifle all forms of protest during the games against his anti-gay rights law, his dismal human rights record and a lack of democratic civil society in the country. He has attempted to mollify his critics by releasing Mikhail Khodorkovsky and members of the music group Pussy Riot early, but the world has not been fooled by these gestures and is keeping a close eye on Mr. Putin as it watches the Sochi Olympics.”

Brian Riedel, professor in the practice of humanities and assistant director of Rice’s Center for the Study of Women, Gender and Sexuality, is available to comment on the issue of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights in Russia and how they differ from those in the U.S. Last June, Putin’s government banned “gay propaganda,” a move that has sparked outrage in Western countries. In turn, President Barack Obama is sending several openly gay athletes to the Olympics as members of the official U.S. delegation, including tennis great Billie Jean King, figure skater Brian Boitano and hockey player Caitlin Cahow.

“While LGBT rights in Russia are undoubtedly under serious attack and LGBT people there face violence and persecution, it is important to remember that the rights LGBT people in the U.S. now have are fairly recent, and we still have a long ways to go until we have full equality in our own country,” Riedel said. “This should not be an area where the U.S. should feel overly superior.”

Joe Barnes, the Bonner Means Baker Fellow at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, has written extensively on international economics. Prior to coming to Rice, Barnes was a career diplomat with the U.S. State Department, serving in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and South Asia. His last assignment in the State Department was with the policy planning staff.

“On the eve of the Sochi Olympics, U.S.-Russian relations are – to put it nicely – troubled,” Barnes said. “Moscow’s decision last year to grant temporary asylum to National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden continues to rankle Washington. And other issues – ranging from Moscow’s anti-gay legislation to its efforts to block Ukraine from building closer ties to the EU – are also bones of diplomatic contention. But the overall state of the Russo-U.S. relationship is not entirely bleak, with Washington and Moscow having worked together closely on a Russian initiative to remove chemical weapons from Syria.”

Rice University has a VideoLink ReadyCam TV interview studio. ReadyCam is capable of transmitting broadcast-quality standard-definition and high-definition video directly to all news media organizations around the world 24/7.

To schedule an interview with any of the experts, contact David Ruth, director of national media relations at Rice University, at david@rice.edu or 713-348-6327.

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