The unprecedented Winter Olympics ban for Russian athletes announced by the International Olympic Committee on Tuesday could offer a template for the United States if it wants to retaliate for Russian interference in the presidential election, suggests John Sipher, a former CIA officer, for Just Security.
“If we want to force action and change behavior, we should look for opportunities to hit where we can expect a visceral reaction – in the area of national emotions and feelings. Russia’s use of racist and right-wing memes and exploitation of trolls to stoke inflammatory reaction suggests that they know how to hit where it hurts. Pictures of Hillary Clinton fighting Jesus are hardly the stuff of economic theory,” Sipher wrote just ahead of the IOC announcement.
“[P]erhaps the recent Russian doping scandal might provide an opportunity to better influence Russian behavior than another round of economic sanctions that the Kremlin is already preparing to circumvent. Cutting Russia off from international sporting and cultural events might be a new way to get their attention. The average Russian citizen will probably not even be aware of new political or economic sanctions, but they will surely get the message if their beloved teams cannot participate in the Olympics, World Cup or European Hockey championships.”
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“If we want to force action and change behavior, we should look for opportunities to hit where we can expect a visceral reaction – in the area of national emotions and feelings. Russia’s use of racist and right-wing memes and exploitation of trolls to stoke inflammatory reaction suggests that they know how to hit where it hurts. Pictures of Hillary Clinton fighting Jesus are hardly the stuff of economic theory,” Sipher wrote just ahead of the IOC announcement.
“[P]erhaps the recent Russian doping scandal might provide an opportunity to better influence Russian behavior than another round of economic sanctions that the Kremlin is already preparing to circumvent. Cutting Russia off from international sporting and cultural events might be a new way to get their attention. The average Russian citizen will probably not even be aware of new political or economic sanctions, but they will surely get the message if their beloved teams cannot participate in the Olympics, World Cup or European Hockey championships.”
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