both intellectual capital and labor sources and be in-
creasingly unable to maintain the integrity of the long
border it shares with China. Population and resource
pressures from China could prove an irresistible force.
The impacts would have global significance, because
of power shifts in Asia, and changes in the global bal-
ance of power. The consequences would seriously af-
fect U.S. power and influence. A weak and inward-
looking Russia is likely to feed a dynamic toward a
global power shift that diminishes U.S. options, in-
cluding access to the world’s resources.
Some believe an improved economy will eventu-
ally bring better environmental stewardship in Rus-
sia. Others expect increasing pressures from trading
partners to meet environmental standards. In either
case, increased accountability would require in-
creased collection and sharing of environmental data
and greater freedom of the press. Such pressure could
be effective. After the World Wildlife Fund called for
a boycott of the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, due to
environmental damages caused by construction proj-
ects, Medvedev announced that Russia would take cli-
mate change into account in preparation for the Sochi
Olympic games and other international competitions.
Hosting successful international games in Sochi and
two other cities (Vladivostok and Kazan) is very im-
portant to the political elite in Russia, who see this as
a way to project great power status and to stimulate
regional regeneration (Balmforth 2010).
The United States does not have the backlog of
domestic problems Russia faces, nor the ongoing en-
vironmental lawlessness. On the other hand, sustain-
ability has not been a United States priority, which
is evident in the consumption–driven economy and
disproportionate use of global resources, an ongoing
stalemate on energy policy, and resistance to making
sharon
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