Sister City Exchange Project
Project Description
We were tasked with making a hypothetical '“pitch” to the Dallas International Sister City Program. Our goal was to convince the hypothetical program administrators that we have a compelling idea for how to increase economic and cultural exchange between Dallas and one of its existing Sister Cities.
Project Submissions: (1) 4-Minute self-guided Power Point presentation; (2) 10-Page Final Paper
Grade: A
Can Cryotherapy Solve Russia’s Athletic Reputation Problem?
Introduction
Throughout the past decade, Russia’s reputation has been in steep decline. In the Spring of 2015, Pew Research Center (PRC) released data detailing the reputations and global perceptions of 40 nations. According to their data, Poland and Jordan have the “strongest negative sentiment” with 80% of the collected samples viewing Russia unfavorably. Furthermore, 26 of the 39 surveyed nations (excluding Russia) find Russia far more unfavorable than favorable. To compound the problem, the most recent Russian offense in the 2016 Olympic doping scandals has worsened international opinions.
2016 Doping Scandal
Russia was previously accused of state-sponsored doping in 2012 and 2014, but the most recent results from the 2016 Olympics in Rio reveal that Russia has continued this illicit practice. According to Camila Domonoske, a National Public Radio correspondent, a report released on December 2nd, 2016 includes more than 1,000 names of guilty Russian athletes. The report is a follow up of an initial study conducted by Canadian law professor Richard McLaren on behalf of the World Anti-Doping Agency. Domonoske uses a quote from McLaren’s report to describe the situation as “‘a systematic and centralized cover up and manipulation’” that included urine swapping in order to pass doping tests.
A graph produced by Niall McCarthy for Statista, neatly shows the unbelievable extent of Russian state-sponsored doping from 2011-2015. The figure indicates a total of 510 incidents of falsified results. A second NPR correspondent, Greg Myre, further explains that the Russian actions were “so egregious, and the doping so pervasive, that the anti-doping agency” has even suggested banning Russia altogether from participating in future Olympics (2016).
Success in sports is certainly a source of national pride, but it can also be an effective political instrument. Russia has mistakenly taken drastic measures in a desperate attempt to regain soft power influence through domination in sports. This tactic, although theoretically feasible, has proven to deteriorate Russia’s reputation further. However, the most unlikely Russian provincial city may hold the key to Russia’s reputation revival.
Proposed Exchange
Objective 1
Utilize Saratov’s strong industry to research and improve cryotherapy systems. Saratov has a number of universities, 6 institutes of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 21 research institutes, and 19 project institutes (International Conference on Information Technologies 2016).
Objective 2
Implement cryotherapy in Russia to improve public and athletic health. An increased effort to demonstrate regard for the health and recovery of Russian citizens can help Russia regain political clout. Bringing cryotherapy to Russia is a crucial step to improving US-Russia relations, and helping Russia begin its journey towards respect for honest competition and proper athletic recovery.
Interested in learning more?
The content provided above is a sample of the project submissions I created in 2016. I encourage anyone to email me if you are interested in viewing a copy of my presentation or final paper. Or use the form on this page to submit comments and questions.
eafogg@smu.edu