Russia's drive to host the Winter Games, no matter the cost, also reflects their long history of staging mega-projects at the state's expense, according to Dr. Lowell Barrington, chair of the Department of Political Science at Marquette University and an expert on Russian politics and nationalism.

When Russia originally made a bid for the Olympics seven years ago, President Vladmir Putin promised a list of environmentally friendly measures: zero waste, heavy investment in alternative energy, restoration of endangered species to the surrounding areas, and the first carbon neutral Games in history. None of these targets have been realized and some have even worsened.