Astana's relentless positive PR barrage continues in the aftermath of this month's presidential elections. Now, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has released Kazakhstan at Twenty: Fulfilling the Promise -- a riposte to Martha Brill Olcott's scholarly work, Kazakhstan: Unfulfilled Promise.
Graced with images of a steelworker, an athlete, OSCE banners and the Astana skyline at night, the Foreign Ministry's book echoes the cover of the American academic's 2002 tome. But inside, where Brill Olcott painted an unflattering view of Kazakhstan and its leaders, the Foreign Ministry has collected articles praising the country's progress since it gained independence in 1991.
A trawl of Almaty bookshops failed to come up with a copy of the book. It's either been very popular or is being reserved as a special Foreign Ministry freebie for distinguished visitors. According to the ministry website, the articles in the book focus on Kazakhstan’s achievements in areas such as nation building and developing a market economy and have been authored by ministers, heads of major international organizations, presidents of companies and -- servile, we assume -- foreign journalists.
The hand of the Foreign Ministry could also be detected in a supplement to the UK's Daily Telegraph earlier this month. The glossy “Kazakhstan Spotlight” led with an article on the recent election – which failed to meet international standards – and quoted selectively from Tonino Picula, head of the OSCE observer mission, and those day-trippers in the so-called Independent International Observer Mission, which included Daniel Witt and EurasiaNet.org-contributor Richard Weitz.
The Daily Telegraph supplement also looked at investment opportunities in the oil and gas sector. Kazakhstan's newly appointed Foreign Minister, Erzhan Kazykhanov, contributed a piece on building bridges between the West and Islamic nations.
The supplement was cunningly designed to look like an independent report on the country, but closer inspection revealed two of the writers, David Witherspoon and Alex Walters, to be linked with another Astana-funded PR project, the “Edge” magazine and website.
In the land of the endless steppe, the PR purse seems to grow and grow.
Paul Bartlett is a journalist based in Almaty.
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