Quadriga: Sochi 2014 - The Propaganda Games? | Quadriga

It's the final countdown for the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi. Russia has come in for criticism ahead of the games, especially for its human rights record. Charges of corruption and criticism of massive scale building projects that harm the environment have tarnished the image of the Games. Will the Sochi Olympics nonetheless be a propaganda success for President Vladimir Putin?

More than 50 world leaders are expected to attend the event despite the criticism. And Putin has set an ambitious goal. In a press conference he promised that participants, fans, journalists and TV viewers would see a new Russia. To reach that goal he invested 50 billion dollars and released political prisoners like former oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky and the Pussy Riot activists ahead of the event.

Are the Olympic Games a festival of humanity when the host nation has an autocratic regime and is stirring conflict? Can the Olympic ideal still have relevance when sporting aspects are overshadowed? Is it possible to hold such sporting mega-events without generating controversy and conflict?

Our guests:

Markus Sergey Lagodinskyi - Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung in Berlin.

Wolfgang Maennig - Professor of economic policy at Hamburg University.

Hans-Henning Schröder – Professor of political science at Free University in Berlin.

More: http://www.dw.de/quadriga-sochi-2014-the-propaganda-games-2014-02-06/e-17363977-9798