2014 Winter Olympics: Ready or not, Sochi, here comes the world

The Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics are less than 24 hours away, but is Russia ready?

The threat of terrorism has been an ever-looming one in the months and even years leading up to this year's Games. In a recent CNN poll conducted by ORC International, 57 percent of 1,000 respondents said a terrorist attack at this year's Olympics was likely, compared to 51 percent ahead of the Summer Games held in Atlanta in 1996.

And they're not the only one worried.

Security for the Russian games is in many ways unprecedented: Whether it's the requirement of background checks for spectators or patrolling drones, the whole event has taken on a Big Brother-esque feel for those involved. According to a statement released by the U.S. State Department's bureau of diplomatic security, "Visitors to Sochi may also experience other types of surveillance and should have no expectation of privacy in public or private locations."

All told, President Vladimir Putin has spent an estimated $50 billion on the 2014 Olympics, making them the most expensive yet.

Why all the fuss?

Sochi, a resort town located along the Black Sea, is adjacent to the North Caucasus, which has been embroiled in separatist movements since the collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1990s. By bringing the world's attention so close to the region, officials fear the temptation for terrorists may be all too great.

"In Sochi, anyone who wants to do damage to Russia has an unparalleled opportunity to bring attention to their cause. It's an enormously inviting target," Jeff Mankoff, deputy director of the Russia and Eurasia program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Al Jazeera America.

"The Olympics are always a prestige project," he explained. "But in the Russian case, that's compounded by the fact that this is the first time an event of this magnitude has been held in Russia since the Soviet collapse, and by a desire to prove that Russia is 'back' from a period of decay."

And then there's the issue of basic infrastructure. Journalists who have arrived on the scene early have been treated to hotels with missing floors, towels and undrinkable water.

Ready or not, Russia, here comes the world.