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Originally Posted by blankall
Does banning Russia from the games solve that issue?
If Russia is competing, perhaps Russian citizens will watch the games and get to see what the rest of the world is actually about. Maybe they'll see that there good people on the other side who are actually concerned with the well being of Ukrainians and aren't obsessed with some kind of imperialist expansion into Russia, as the Russian propaganda is leading them to believe.
Sport is a pretty unique way to expose warring people to each other and open up bridges of communication.
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The Russian people have no say in the matter. They are simply fed whatever propaganda the government sees fit. The Nazis used the 1396 Olympics as a propaganda tool, and Russia used the Sochi and Beijing Olympics in a similar light. Putin is an extreme egotist, so the only way to stop him is to show him that he is not building a new, greater Russian empire, but he is causing his country to suffer a loss of prestige.