Russia Hosts the Olympics near the Georgian Territory It Invaded

Russia is currently hosting the 2014 Winter Olympics in its Black Sea semi-tropical resort at Sochi.  There has been some focus in the media on concerns about security in regard to threats from Islamist terrorists in the region, Russia’s anti-homosexuality law, the lack of readiness of host facilities and other embarrassing problems, but the Russian invasion of nearby Georgian  territory has been forgotten.

            Sochi is not many miles away from Abkhazia, one of the separatist parts of Georgia that Russia invaded in 2008.  The Russians set up puppet governments in Abkhazia and South Ossetia after provoking a war with its pro-Western, democratic neighbor in the Caucuses that had been a Soviet republic.  Only a handful of foreign states recognize the independence of the two breakaway regions that will either continue as de facto Russian protectorates or are expected eventually to seek union with Russia.  After the invasion, there was some thought among critics of Russia’s aggression of organizing a boycott of the Russian-hosted Olympics nearby, but the focus of concerns about the games has been elsewhere. 

As I have posted a number of times, Russia has paid no price for its misbehavior.  In fact, I noted recently in a post how it has economically intimidated another former Soviet republic, Ukraine from becoming closer with the rest of Europe, as states along Russia’s periphery, especially former Soviet republics, are mindful of what happened to Georgia.  One price Russia ought to pay in order to deter further aggression is in people not attending or patronizing the Sochi Olympics in any manner that remotely benefits Russia. 

The Free World, led by the example of the United States of America, must stand more strongly for the independence, territorial integrity and liberty of former Soviet republics and especially with the people, for example, in the streets of Ukraine who are protesting their government’s alignment with Russia and repression of their freedom of expression.  The world should also expect Russia to respect the liberty of its own people, as well as that of its neighbors.