"My 'Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan'"

Sacha Baron Cohen reports as "Borat."
Twentieth Century Fox via the Washington Post.

Read the full op-ed piece by Gauhar Abdygaliyeva in The Washington Post of November 8, 2006.

She writes:

I'm a Muslim Kazakh woman who arrived in the United States two months ago to work on my master's in public administration. Almost every time I meet people and tell them where I come from, they ask me about the "Kazakh journalist" Borat, "the sixth most famous man" in Kazakhstan. I answer that Borat is a satirical fictional character who has nothing in common with Kazakhstan or its people.

I suspect that many Americans who think Kazakhstanis should "lighten up" and enjoy the humor would be quite upset were the shoe on the other foot, and Americans were shown as boors and buffoons in a foreign movie.

Sacha Baron Cohen, Borat, is obviously a very gifted comedian. He has used "the foreign visitor" as a vehicle to satirize America. In the guise of the foreigner he can be extremely politically incorrect. He might well have chosen to be from outer space or from Elbonia, but for most Americans Kazakhstan is equally distant and foreign.

I spent a fair amount of time over the last six months reading and thinking about Kazakhstan. I have been fortunate enough to meet and talk with hundreds of Kazakhstanis. I can attest to Ms. Abdygaliyeva's points that Kazakhstan has a sophisticated, educated population. I was struck by the fact that people on the streets of Astana and Almaty appeared more formally and better dressed than those on the streets of Washington, DC.

It is too bad that Americans are so bad at geography that they don't know about Kazakhstan or appreciate its importance. It has huge fossil fuel and mineral resources, and is going to be an important oil exporter in the near future. It has long borders with both the Russian Federation and China, but is seeking to build its ties with Western Europe and the United States. It is a secular Sunni society in a region which is increasingly dominated by state religions and Shiite militancy. It looks to me like the most stable and progressive of the "Stans" of Central Asia. Thus it has an important geopolitical role to play. It is also a beautiful nation with an interesting history and culture.