Book Review - Putin's Olympics: The Sochi Games and the Evolution of Twenty-First Century Russia

Robert W. Orttung and Sufian N. Zhemukhov’s book Putin's Olympics: The Sochi Games and the Evolution of Twenty-First Century Russia presents a concise yet dense overview of how the games designed to symbolize Russia’s return to great power status have ultimately failed to do so due to large-scale corruption, subsequent aggression against Ukraine, and the doping scandal that have become the true legacies of the games. Their analysis of Kremlin’s mega-project strikes a good balance between looking in detail at the different aspects of Sochi Olympics (political economy, civil society, security) and weaving them together into a comprehensive, coherent narrative