RUSSIAN HISTORY OF OLYMPICS

REVISING RUSSIAN HISTORY

The western view of Russia tends to paint it as a cold war, inhospitable land inhabited by equally taciturn people. Certainly the Cold War increased this distance as the USSR remained inscrutable behind the iron curtain dividing communist countries from western Europe. But Russia’s opening to the world after communism ended in 1991 and its subsequent highly published struggles have begun to create a different view. If the opening ceremony of the fun and more importantly, to reclaim its place as a great power on the world state. The ceremony itself was spectacular as it took us on a brief walk through Russian History. The fireworks and lighting were equally astounding. The piece tag on the game puts Russian ambitions in context $50 billion the most ever spent  in Winter Olympics history, more than four times the initial budget estimate. Critics point to this as proof of Russia’s endemic problems. Then too there is criticism of Russia for its stance on gays. However, very little in the way of protests marred Russia’s Olympic friendly spirit.

Pakistanis are all too aware of the distortions that rewriting history in this way can bring. Refusal to acknowledge our region’s history before the Arab invasion of 712 AD and exclusive focus on the history of Islamic conquests in India have and intolerance. When Russians stray into denying their communist past  they run a similar risk of not learning from history.