‘War and Peace’ at the 1980 Moscow and 2014 Sochi Olympics: The Role of Hard and Soft Power in Russian Identity

© 2019, © 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. Russia’s (and the USSR’s) use of sports mega-events (SMEs) makes this BRICS country (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) not only an outlier among emerging states, but also among key SME hosts generally. Both the historic Moscow Olympics (1980) and the more recent hosting of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics provide evidence that Russia has, on both occasions, focussed on geopolitical priorities using hard power (military might) at the expense of soft power acquisition. Furthermore, both Olympics were, first and foremost, used to pursue domestic soft power goals. This, again, makes Russia an outlier in terms of the political use of SMEs by states in the literature on this subject. The 1980 Olympic Games, therefore, in terms of their potential to generate soft power and national unity, turned out to be a mis-used opportunity for Russia. To what extent is this specific to Russia and could the first Russian Olympics provide valuable insight into the modern-day hosting of SMEs by Russia (2014/2018)?

The Sochi Winter Olympics and Russia’s unique soft power strategy

According to Joseph Nye, who coined the concept of ‘soft power’, Putin ‘failed to capitalize on the soft-power boost afforded to Russia by hosting the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi’. With political volatility in the region throughout the year, Russia’s ensuing actions–culminating in the secession of Crimea–and its position over the armed conflict in Ukraine, certainly appear to bear this out. The Sochi Olympics were predominantly framed by the Western press as a Russian soft power quest and an attempt to obtain belated recognition as a great power. However, Sochi should be understood as a part of a wider package of ‘spatial governance’ undertaken by Putin’s regime. We argue that the Sochi mega-event is part of a wider soft power strategy–one which is not the same as, for example, the UK’s or Brazil’s use of such events. For Russia, international status means possessing both soft and hard power resources and being able to use them

ОЦІНКА СТУДЕНТАМИ ЕФЕКТИВНОСТІ САМОСТІЙНОЇ РОБОТИ ПРИ ВИВЧЕННІ ГІГІЄНІЧНИХ ДИСЦИПЛІН

The aim of the work – to analyze the attitude of students of the institution of higher medical education to the independent study of a certain part of the educational material at the Department of Hygiene and Ecology. The main body. Recent reforms in higher medical education which initiated a dramatic increase in hours for self-training students at higher education institutions gradually begin to be perceived by the student community. The results of the questionnaires of students of the higher medical institution – the students of secondary and post-graduate students are considered. The obtained data testify to a gradual change in the attitude of contemporary students to the need for self-mastering of a part of professional knowledge as a traditional component of the educational process. Most of the polled second-year students, both Ukrainians and foreign English-speaking, are self-employed not less than 50 % and 40 % of the time, respectively. Conclusions. Independent work of students in medical institutions of higher education is not only a way of obtaining specific professional knowledge, but also to a greater extent, an indicator of the readiness of the future doctor for continuous professional growth, a sense of social and corporate responsibility, the ability to make decisions in complex life and work situations. Analysis of the data of questioning of students of different courses about their relation to independent non-auditing work showed that these features are more inherent in a new generation of both domestic and foreign English-speaking students.Мета роботи – проаналізувати ставлення студентів закладу вищої медичної освіти до самостійного вивчення певної частини навчального матеріалу на кафедрі гігієни та екології. Основна частина. Останні реформи вищої медичної освіти, що започаткували кардинальне збільшення годин для самостійної підготовки студентів закладів вищої освіти, починають потроху усвідомлюватися студентською громадою. Розглянуто результати анкетування студентів вищого медичного закладу – другокурсників та випускників. Отримані дані свідчать про поступову зміну ставлення сучасних студентів до необхідності самостійного опанування частини професійних знань як традиційної складової навчального процесу. Більшість опитаних студентів-другокурсників, як вітчизняних, так і іноземних англомовних, ­готові займа­тися самостійно не менше 50 % та 40 % часу відповідно. Висновки. Самостійна робота студентів у медичних закладах вищої освіти є не тільки способом отримання специфічних професійних знань, але й, більшою мірою, індикатором готовності майбутнього лікаря до безперервного професійного зростання, відчуття соціальної та корпоративної відповідальності, вміння самостійно приймати рішення у складних життєвих та виробничих випадках. Аналіз даних анкетування студентів різних курсів про їх ставлення до самостійної позааудиторної роботи показав, що ці риси більш притаманні новій генерації як вітчизняних, так і іноземних англомовних студентів

Understanding Russia’s identity through Olympic ceremonies

This paper focuses on the comparative (mis-)interpretation of the 1980 Moscow and 2014 Sochi Olympic ceremonies by media outlets located in Great Britain and the USA, Russia’s ‘significant others’. Further, the paper attempts to uncover the most persistent facets of Russia’s identity–by decoding culturally-specific meanings of the signs and symbols in both ceremonies–and to trace which aspects of its national narrative Russia had to let go eventually in the course of the 34 years that separate the two Olympics. This is undertaken by a documentary analysis of ‘Western’ media between the periods of 20 July and 6 August for Moscow and 7–23 February for Sochi–time frames when the direct coverage of the ceremonies took place. Our key findings suggest that instead of enabling Russia to validate a new national identity and image the Western media only helped to reproduce resilient reciprocal national identities. Furthermore, it was the Sochi Olympics as Russia's biggest soft power party to date, not the aftermath, which, not least through a transformative attendant media response/framing from both sides, became the closing chapter of the Russian-Western interdependent identity construction in the early 21st century. Thus, apart from placing the spotlight on Russia’s evolving identity and interests, this paper also investigates how the USA’s and the UK’s media resisted Russia’s (Soviet) soft power strategy, whilst in the process solidifying their own identities and promoting their strategic narratives

Simple (imidazol-2-ylidene)-Pd-acetate complexes as effective precatalysts for sterically hindered Suzuki-Miyaura couplings

A simplified synthesis of N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC)Pd-carboxylate complexes and their activity in Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling reactions are described. Coupling of sterically hindered aryl and activated alkyl chlorides bearing 6-hydrogens has been successfully achieved.</p

Simple (imidazol-2-ylidene)-Pd-acetate complexes as effective precatalysts for sterically hindered Suzuki-Miyaura couplings

A simplified synthesis of N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC)Pd-carboxylate complexes and their activity in Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling reactions are described. Coupling of sterically hindered aryl and activated alkyl chlorides bearing 6-hydrogens has been successfully achieved.</p

CONTENTS OF CHEMOKINES AND CYTOKINES IN PERITONEAL FLUID FROM THE PATIENTS WITH ENDOMETRIOSIS OF VARIOUS SEVERITY

Abstract. Endometriosis is a disease accompanied by development of heterotopic endometrial foci at the peritoneum, proliferation of endothelial cells, and inflammatory reaction. Aiming to specify the dynamics of inflammatory process in endometriosis of different severity, as well as significance of chemokines and cytokines in angiogenesis and inflammation, we determined concentrations of RANTES, IL-8, IP-10, MIG, MCP-1 chemokines, as well as IL-4, IL-6 and IL-10 cytokines in peritoneal fluid from patients by endometriosis. Forty women at reproductive age with an endometriosis have been observed. Among them, endometriosis grade I-II was registered in 20 cases, whereas grade III-IV has been confirmed in 20 women. Twenty-two women without evidence of endometriosis referred to diagnostic laparoscopy for pregnancy planning, comprised a control group. Diagnosis of endometriosis was based upon endoscopic findings and results of histological research. Severity grade of endometriosis was estimated according to R-AFS classification. Sampling of peritoneal fluid was carried out when performing surgical laparoscopies. Concentrations of chemokines and cytokines were determined by flow cytometry techniques, using BD Cytometric Bead Array test kits and FACStrack flow cytometer. The amounts of RANTES in peritoneal fluid were higher in grade I-II endometriosis, in comparison with grade III-IV endometriosis and control samples. Concentrations of IP-10, IL-8, МСР-1, MIG, IL-6, and IL-4 were higher than in control group and correlated with severity of the disease. IL-10 was not detectable in peritoneal fluid of the patients with endometriosis. These results suggest a significant role of the mentioned cytokines and chemokines that may promote invasion of endometrial cells, growth of heterotopic endometrioid locuses, development of vascular bed and induction of inflammatory processes, in development and progression of endometriosis