Security in Sochi
As international attention turns to the Black Sea port of Sochi for the 2014 Winter Olympics, the anticipation surrounding the Games is sharing headlines with the region’s recent history of unrest and its potential to bring violence to spectators and athletes there. In December, suicide bombers killed 34 people in two explosions in the southern Russian city of Volgograd, two months after a bus bombing killed seven others. The attacks came on the heels of an announcement by a militant leader from the restive Russian republic of Chechnya that the Games were a valid target for his fighters. Russian security forces have mounted a massive effort to keep the Games safe, pouring both manpower and advanced technology into the area. With the Games opening Friday, the Gazette spoke with Russia expert Timothy Colton, the Morris and Anna Feldberg Professor of Government and Russian Studies and chair of Harvard’s Department of Government, about...