Seeded Graph Matching via Large Neighborhood Statistics

We study a well known noisy model of the graph isomorphism problem. In this model, the goal is to perfectly recover the vertex correspondence between two edge-correlated Erd\H{o}s-R\'{e}nyi random graphs, with an initial seed set of correctly matched vertex pairs revealed as side information. For seeded problems, our result provides a significant improvement over previously known results. We show that it is possible to achieve the information-theoretic limit of graph sparsity in time polynomial in the number of vertices $n$. Moreover, we show the number of seeds needed for exact recovery in polynomial-time can be as low as $n^{3\epsilon}$ in the sparse graph regime (with the average degree smaller than $n^{\epsilon}$) and $\Omega(\log n)$ in the dense graph regime. Our results also shed light on the unseeded problem. In particular, we give sub-exponential time algorithms for sparse models and an $n^{O(\log n)}$ algorithm for dense models for some parameters, including some that are not covered by recent results of Barak et al

Robust algorithms with polynomial loss for near-unanimity CSPs

An instance of the Constraint Satisfaction Problem (CSP) is given by a family of constraints on overlapping sets of variables, and the goal is to assign values from a xed domain to the variables so that all constraints are satised. In the optimization version, the goal is to maximize the number of satised constraints. An approximation algorithm for CSP is called robust if it outputs an assignment satisfying an (1????g("))-fraction of constraints on any (1????")-satisable instance, where the loss function g is such that g(") ! 0 as " ! 0. We study how the robust approximability of CSPs depends on the set of constraint relations allowed in instances, the so-called constraint language. All constraint languages admitting a robust polynomial-time algorithm (with some g) have been characterised by Barto and Kozik, with the general bound on the loss g being doubly exponential, specically g(") = O((log log(1="))= log(1=")). It is natural to ask when a better loss can be achieved: in particular, polynomial loss g(") = O("1=k) for some constant k. In this paper, we consider CSPs with a constraint language having a nearunanimity polymorphism. This general condition almost matches a known necessary condition for having a robust algorithm with polynomial loss. We give two randomized robust algorithms with polynomial loss for such CSPs: one works for any near-unanimity polymorphism and the parameter k in the loss depends on the size of the domain and the arity of the relations in ????, while the other works for a special ternary near-unanimity operation called dual discriminator with k = 2 for any domain size. In the latter case, the CSP is a common generalisation of Unique Games with a xed domain and 2-Sat. In the former case, we use the algebraic approach to the CSP. Both cases use the standard semidenite programming relaxation for CSP

Brands, cities and (post-)politics: A comparative analysis of urban strategies for the Universiade 2013 and the World Football Cup 2018 in Russia

© The Author(s) 2014 This article analyses how two large-scale sports events in Russia shape regional identities and brands, and prompt different social and administrative effects in urban milieus. These two mega-events are the Universiade in Kazan’ in 2013 and the Football World Cup to take place in 11 Russian cities, among which we focus more specifically on Nizhny Novgorod. We argue that the logic of municipal and regional authorities is largely based on post-political thinking, with such main priorities as building consensus, securing public order, stimulating consumption, developing investment opportunities, renovating urban areas, and branding and globally promoting regions’ competitive advantages. This logic, however, is often contested by groups concerned about financial transparency and accountability, managerial efficiency, environmental protection, preservation of historical areas and other public issues

Biopower and geopolitics as Russia’s neighborhood strategies: reconnecting people or reaggregating lands?

© 2017 Association for the Study of Nationalities.In this article, we address geopolitics and biopower as two different yet mutually correlative discursive strategies of sovereign power in Russia. We challenge the dominant realist approaches to Russia’s neighborhood policy by introducing the concept of biopolitics as its key element, which makes analysis of political relations in the post-Soviet area more nuanced and variegated. More specifically, we address an important distinction between geopolitical control over territories and management of population as two of Russia’s strategies in its “near abroad.

The Four Pillars of Russia’s Power Narrative

© 2014 Istituto Affari Internazionali. The Winter Olympic Games in Sochi and the annexation of Crimea were two major international events in which Russia engaged in early 2014. In spite of all the divergence in the logic underpinning each of them, four concepts strongly resonate in both cases. First, in hosting the Olympics and in appropriating Crimea, Russia was motivated by solidifying its sovereignty as the key concept in its foreign and domestic policies. Second, the scenarios for both Sochi and Crimea were grounded in the idea of strengthening Russia as a political community through mechanisms of domestic consolidation (Sochi) and opposition to unfriendly external forces (the crisis in Ukraine). Third, Sochi and Crimea unveiled two different facets of the logic of normalisation aimed at proving – albeit by different means – Russia’s great power status. Fourth, one of the major drivers of Russian policy in both cases were security concerns in Russia’s southern flanks, though domestic security was also an important part of the agenda

From Sochi–2014 to FIFA–2018: a fading sovereignty?

© 2015 Taylor & Francis.In this article, we uncover the dynamics and the evolution of Russian discourses of sovereignty before and after the Sochi 2014 Olympic Games using some elements of Foucauldian methodology and constructivist reading of sovereignty as an institution. We argue that there is a discrepancy between the rhetoric of sovereign power and the institutional practices in which it is embedded. It leads us to theorize that sovereignty discourses are contextual, unstable and constitutively shaped by commitments taken as key elements of international socialization. In the case of Russia, these discourses can be divided into three groups: pre-Sochi, post-Sochi and pre-World 2018 Cup discursive formations. As we venture to demonstrate, Putin's model of sovereignty is in crisis, yet it has support, both domestic and international. In the near future, sport is likely to remain one of those spheres of high visibility where the ideology of surviving under sanctions and counter-attacking the West will be reified

From Sochi – 2014 to FIFA – 2018: a fading sovereignty?

© 2015 Taylor & Francis In this article, we uncover the dynamics and the evolution of Russian discourses of sovereignty before and after the Sochi 2014 Olympic Games using some elements of Foucauldian methodology and constructivist reading of sovereignty as an institution. We argue that there is a discrepancy between the rhetoric of sovereign power and the institutional practices in which it is embedded. It leads us to theorize that sovereignty discourses are contextual, unstable and constitutively shaped by commitments taken as key elements of international socialization. In the case of Russia, these discourses can be divided into three groups: pre-Sochi, post-Sochi and pre-World 2018 Cup discursive formations. As we venture to demonstrate, Putin's model of sovereignty is in crisis, yet it has support, both domestic and international. In the near future, sport is likely to remain one of those spheres of high visibility where the ideology of surviving under sanctions and counter-attacking the West will be reified

Rocking the sochi Olympics Narrative: Boris Nemtsov and Putin's Sovereignty

This article begins with an analysis of Boris Nemtsov's critical contribution to the Sochi Olympics debate and then projects it onto a wider discourse about mega-events in Russia. Being a native of Sochi, Nemtsov followed the issues related to its transformation into an Olympic city, and even ran for mayor in 2009. In 2013 he co-authored a widely circulated report, "Winter Olympics in the Sub-tropics," in which he raised substantial issues about transparency and accountability that remain relevant after the Olympics. Nemtsov's analysis remains an important reference point for critical discourses that put an emphasis on corruption, mismanagement and societal risks associated with global sports events in authoritarian countries. In conclusion, the authors examine the plethora of critical Olympic discourses related to the nature of the current political regime in Russia as well as the policies pursued by global sports institutions