Berkley Center

After a spending spree of 51 billion dollars and seven years of fast and furious building, the Winter Olympics have finally come to Sochi. The time has come for nations of all different backgrounds and creeds to come together, joined under the unifying camaraderie of sport. Or has it? As an American student living in Saint Petersburg, it is clear to me that the presence of the Olympics in Russia has done more to exacerbate the tensions between Russia and the West than mitigate them.

I acknowledge that the Russians themselves have played their part in creating a situation provocative to Western audiences. Over-eager at the prospect of hosting their first Winter Olympics and determined to prove themselves, it is obvious that they got a bit carried away. The decision to build a full-blown European resort city from scratch in an area uncomfortably close to well-known hotbeds of Islamic terrorism and ongoing conflict was hardly the most reasonable course of action. Not only does that 51 billion dollar sum dwarf the expenditures for all previous Olympic games, but it is also completely bewildering to the Russian citizens—those who see their tax dollars going toward the construction of an extravagant resort town while the majority of the population continues to live in cities with crumbling infrastructure and deplorable living conditions. If nothing else, the Russian elite can be found guilty of hard-headedness—characterized by a certain insistence that everything will go off without a hitch because they demand it, and because they are willing to expend any and all resources to make it so.

In lieu of these glaring idiosyncrasies, it is little wonder that the Western world has adopted a skeptical tone when referencing the Sochi Olympics. However, it is clear that this skepticism quickly got out of hand, devolving into base eye-rolling as Western audiences pounced on every opportunity to mock Russian failings, no matter how small. When CNN journalists arrived at their 5-star hotels, for example, they jumped on the chance to tweet about the #Sochiproblems in their accommodations—pointing out everything from upside-down toilet seats to dirty water to stray dogs in hotel lobbies. And when the fifth Olympic ring failed to open during the opening ceremony, the level of spiteful glee only intensified—with Western journalists decrying the blunder as an omen of the Games’ imminent (and actually quite foreseeable) failure.

But it goes deeper than that. Long before the Games even started, the West was already cementing a critical ideological barrier—calling out Russia on a wide spectrum of human rights issues, demonizing its intervention in Ukraine, and generally taking every opportunity to tear down the Putin administration. Despite the self-proclaimed nature of the Games to unite nations beyond political differences, heads of state from countries including the United States, United Kingdom, France, and Germany decided to boycott the Sochi Olympics—sending a strong message of disapproval and condescension at home and abroad that would prove hard to shake.

While it is true that in some cases skepticism towards Russia has been well-earned, it seems to me that this Western trend of excessive criticism of Russia, however well-intentioned, is doing more harm then good. What the West needs to understand is that attacking Russia so relentlessly only exacerbates the problem. The more that we criticize, the more Russia feels isolated, the more hard-headed and defensive against Western pressure it gets. Complaining about the furniture in your 5-star hotel room and playing up negative Russian stereotypes is not only petty and insensitive to local living conditions, but in fact dangerous—flooding Russia with the idea that the West is an enemy bent on eternal antagonism. As a result, the Russian people are inevitably goaded into adopting an antagonistic and anti-Western stance themselves. The worst part is that these feelings of helplessness and defensiveness towards the West have been consistently cultivated in the Russian people, not by the evil propaganda of the Russian government, but by none other than ourselves.

In the end, the solution is clear. We in the West must give credit where credit is due and show at least a basic level of respect to the country that has expended so many resources to put its best foot forward to host an event of international friendship and unity. If we must criticize, then let it be criticism that is responsible, measured, and effective. Otherwise, we might just succeed in goading into existence that very enemy which we have feared all along.