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What is objective information? Robert Orttung in Zurich

What is objective information? Robert Orttung in Zurich

“At some point you have to take a moral stance and say that undermining authoritarian governments is better than undermining democratic ones.” This is how Robert Orttung, from the Elliot School of International Affairs at George Washington, answered my question today. Robert, together with Sufian Zhemukhov, have written enough about the Sochi Olympics that you pretty much have to cite them if you do any work at all in this area (see, for example, this article in East European Politics,…

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The Battle for Mindshare: Duelling in 2018?

The Battle for Mindshare: Duelling in 2018?

There is something fascinating happening in Russia that, I think, also has applications on how we can interpret current affairs in the USA. A quick summary: On August 23, Alexey Navalny publishes an analysis of corruption in the procurement of foodstuffs for the Russian National Guard. It’s impressively detailed, meticulously sourced, brilliantly presented (they even included good English CC:subtitles for those who don’t speak Russian). In a normal system, this level of well-researched accusation would require some sort of response. At least…

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Secret Cameras and the Enemies of the State

Secret Cameras and the Enemies of the State

More than a year after I got in trouble with the Russian Migration Service and the FSB, and 11 months after I was featured in some trashy and sensational articles that claimed I was a foreign agent bent on disrupting the 2018 World Cup, here I am back in the news once again. I’m reluctant to give these people any more clicks, but here we go anyway: so, alongside some fine journalists and scholars (and, unfortunately, some less scrupulous journalists…

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2026 World Cup: Canada + USA + Mexico

2026 World Cup: Canada + USA + Mexico

I was asked to write a quick op-ed for USA Today on winning the so-called NAFTA bid for the 2026 World Cup. Obviously I’m hugely in favor of investing in and improving international relations, particularly as the USA is in such a delicate situation at the moment. I have my doubts, however, about the wisdom of investing so much hope and money in the World Cup as an agent of change. In the op-ed, I mention some of the costs involved…

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File under: clever strategies to skim a little off the top

File under: clever strategies to skim a little off the top

Kirill Bezrukov (@KBezrukov) pointed me to this beautiful example of savvy business in Kaliningrad. There’s a bridge (Vysokiy Most, or High Bridge) that connects the main parts of Kaliningrad to Oktyabrskiy Ostrov, a quirky, mostly undeveloped island in the middle of the city. Among other things, the city’s World Cup development agenda involves transforming this island into a viable part of the city. So the new 35,000 seat World Cup stadium is sited there, and other developments are slated to…

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A trashy kind of Olympic legacy

A trashy kind of Olympic legacy

In preparation for my talk at this year’s American Association of Geographers annual conference I’ve been thinking about Sochi several years after the Olympics. I think it’s worth taking a look at the city after the circus has left town, when the international spotlight has largely moved on to other events and other places. Sochi 2014 was never just about the sport. Beyond the aspirations to reframe public perceptions of Russia inside and outside the nation, there was a clear attempt…

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L’esprit de l’escalier, or Meddling? What meddling?

L’esprit de l’escalier, or Meddling? What meddling?

In April this year I had the opportunity to give a talk at Smith College with Martin Müller and Chris Gaffney. The event was called Sport Mega Events and Urban Development: Cases of Brazil 2014, Rio 2016, Sochi 2014, Russia 2018, and it was hosted by Andrew Zimbalist. If you don’t know him, Andrew is a sports economist, hugely accomplished, a very friendly man and admirably prolific. After the talk, Andrew took us out for dinner. And over beers he started…

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Research and Spycraft Revisited

Research and Spycraft Revisited

In June, I was detained in Volgograd and questioned by the Russian migration authorities and the FSB. I was lucky, all things considered, even though the experience was extraordinarily unpleasant. I know that many others have had it much worse, particularly those Russians who might have differing or minority opinions and may try to effect change based on expressing those views. I was hopeful that the issue was merely one of local authorities flexing their muscles, and that with time…

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My Current Conceptual Quandary

My Current Conceptual Quandary

Working on any large project – whether writing a dissertation, recording an album, or hosting a mega-event – means keeping track of a lot of moving parts. When I was working as a musician, I hung a large whiteboard on the studio wall where I’d draw a project management grid for each album. One axis listed every song and the other showed all the steps needed until completion, from recording individual instrument tracks to mixing and mastering. In my academic…

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The World Cup and/or Urban Development

The World Cup and/or Urban Development

Mega-events are mega expensive – this is nothing new. And while there are exhaustive lists of the high costs of preparing for the Olympics or the World Cup, there is also evidence that in some cases these are better understood not as the costs of a sporting event, but rather as massive development projects with a sporting event attached. In my view, there is some validity to this argument. In Russia, for example, the 2018 World Cup is clearly being…

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