No. 150: Mega-Events

Author(s): Martin Müller, Sven Daniel Wolfe, Robert Orttung
Editor(s): Stephen Aris, Matthias Neumann, Robert Orttung, Jeronim Perovic, Heiko Pleines, Hans-Henning Schröder, Aglaya Snetkov
Series: Russian Analytical Digest (RAD)
Issue: 150
Publisher(s): Center for Security Studies (CSS), ETH Zurich; Research Centre for East European Studies, University of Bremen; Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies, George Washington University
Publication Year: 2014

This edition examines the impact of Russias hosting of global mega-events. Firstly, Martin Müller and Sven Daniel Wolfe consider the cost of Russias investment in hosting World Cup 2018, detailing how it is set to be the most expensive World Cup ever. They suggest that with the economic outlook for Russia darkening, this mega-event is likely to become a deadweight to Russian economic development through the misallocation of scarce resources. Secondly, Robert Orttung focuses on the legacy of the Sochi Olympics. He argues that although this mega-event passed without many of the disasters commentators had predicted, its main legacy will likely be as a temporal marker for Russias annexation of Crimea.

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