I was unfortunately busy all day deep in thought and writing about the structure of domestic political competition in Central Asian states, so there was no time to do any substantive posts on the news of the day. (There was actually quite a bit…) So instead, here’s the latest video from Kazakhstan’s Embassy in DC.
I applaud it if for no other reason, the narrator sounds happy whenever he mentions the US, not so happy when he talks about “threats from the Kremlin,” and sarcastic about “well-wishers” who encouraged Kazakhstan to keep nuclear weapons left behind by the Soviets. And 41 makes an appearance. Enjoy!
This post was written by...
Nathan Hamm – author of 2039 posts on Registan.net.
Nathan founded Registan.net in 2003. He was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Uzbekistan 2000-2001 and received his MA in Central Asian Studies from the University of Washington in 2007. Since 2007, he has worked full-time as an analyst, consulting with clients on Central Asian affairs, specializing in how socio-cultural factors shape risks and opportunities. Follow him on Twitter or drop him a line.
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“The first ever visit by a head of state of an independent Kazakhstan.” Major lulz!
Seriously, 41 sounded like a prop in a juche patriotic film. And I like the guy.
Also, the overlay of Dick Cheney and the narrator’s insistence on calling Kazakhstan a democracy was just perfect. Good call Nathan.
Nathan, Thanks for posting this. The Bill Clinton speech was very interesting. Who was offering money for Kazakhstan to keep its nuclear weapons? They don’t say, but from Clinton’s expression, it looked serious…
There hearsays that some Kazakh nukes went then to troubled Middle East. It should’ve better stayed in stable Kazakstan.
Kremlin is worried that Kazakhstan is shifting towards China. And it is time to learn Chinese for all Central Asians. Hmm, tough times ahead. That’s not an easy language to learn.
Roman Vassilenko is definitely in touch with web 2.0 possibilities. I wonder if it has to do with his comparative youth (the guy can’t be over 35) in relation to the usual age of diplomatic personnel who get the prestigious/important postings?