(photo from the 2006 SCO Summit, featuring the Despot All-Stars)
The city of Bishkek proudly played host to one of the greatest gatherings of ruthless, anti-democratic dictators in recent memory at the 2007 Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit (see Wash. Post article here). The one day event was mostly a ceremonial affair designed to show the world, and particularly the United States, that this coalition of Asian states was strengthening in its resolve and determination to not only work closely on issues of security, counter-terrorism, and trade, but also to counter American influence in the region. Call them Asia's answer to NATO. Well, maybe that's jumping the gun, since many of these states still have divergent interests and wildly varying levels of military capacity and natural resource wealth, but the major players, like member states China, Russia, and Kazakhstan, have deep enough pockets and entrenched cultures of paranoia toward the West to really focus their energies into forming a formidable bloc. Throw in observer status states like Iran and Turkmenistan, and the oil/paranoia levels go off the charts.
Certainly part of the paranoia comes from the leaders themselves, a rogue crew of despots that have done more than their share to crush democratic movements in their own countries, through effective use of legal and electoral manipulation, thuggish intimidation, and good ol' fashioned murder of political opponents. The roster of member states reads like a Who's Who of human rights abusers and corruption masterminds. Consider - member state leaders: Hu Jintao, China; Vladimir Putin, Russia; Nursultan Nazarbayev, Kazakhstan; Islam Karimov, Uzbekistan; and Emomali Rahmon, Tajikistan. All except Putin and Hu are self-imposed presidents-for-life, but Putin and Hu's cronies will certainly continue their anti-democratic traditions of rule once they're gone. Kurmanbek Bakiev, president of Kyrgyzstan, presides over the most democratic of all member states, though his taste for corruption, cronyism, and power consolidation surely have him frothing at the chance to become a dictator like his good buddies. He must feel like a real sissy being the only non-dictator in the Central Asian 'hood.
Then consider - observer state leaders: Mahmoud Ahmedinijad, Iran; and Gurbanguly Berdumukhammedov (say that fast with a mouth full of crackers), Turkmenistan. Both are oil/gas rich regimes with repressed societies and isolated from the global community. That this all-star team of despotism gathered in one city yesterday (in fact in one yurt for a traditional Kyrgyz tea at the Presidential compound) must have spun the minds of the hawks in the White House, the Pentagon and the CIA. One well placed cruise missle could have rid the world of three quarters of it's dictators (though observer state leaders Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan and Nambaryn Enkhbayar of Mongolia, the former benign if ineffective, the latter benign and quite effective, would be tipped off to visit the little boys room at the appropriate moment to avoid obliteration).
Needless to say, little came out of this conference except vague warnings to the West (U.S. and A.) to stop meddling in the military and energy affairs of the region. Particularly galling to Russia, Iran and China is the presence of the U.S. air base at Manas Airport outside Bishkek, the rear-supply base for operations in Afghanistan. Russia and Iran have also clashed head on with the U.S. on the planned missle defense installations in Poland and the Czech Republic, which are aimed at Iran, but sit in Russia's backyard. And Russia bristles at U.S. maneuvering to get pipelines from oil and gas-rich Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan to bypass Russia and deliver the goods directly to western markets through the Caucusus and Turkey. Behind the scenes certainly plenty of pressure was placed on the Kyrgyz government to oust the meddlesome Americans out of the country, but the Kyrgyz, true to their nomadic heritage, are masters of playing superpowers against each for its own financial gain, and they'll keep the Americans around as long as they remain willing to fork over increasing piles of cash to stay at Manas. With a rent of nearly $200 million a year, renegotiated yearly, the Russians and Chinese could never compensate the Kyrgyz for such a loss of revenue unless they threatened to annex the country themselves.
Mainly it was a big chance for these emerging giants of Asia to flash their new gang signs in front of the global media. The problem was, it barely bleeped on the global media radar. The defective Chinese toy story got far more coverage in the mainstream western media than this meeting. And for little Kyrgyzstan, caught in the middle with little to offer but poorly managed yet abundant water resources, it was their chance to show the world they are open to tourists and open to investors. The climate for both is certainly attractive for those with a taste for extreme adventure, but they have a long way to go before any significant volume of tourism or investment capital comes flowing in. No amount of last minute road paving, sidewalk patching and house painting could gloss over the fact that this country is criminally mismanaged and drunk on corruption at every level, and that the vast majority of people want to get the hell out and earn real money in Kazakhstan or Russia as soon as they can.
A funny story that emerged from this whole circus features a world-class rebuke of Iranian President Ahmedinijad by the Kyrgyz Parliament. As reported on the local news, apparently Ahmedinijad was set to meet with the deputies of the Kyrgyz Parliament, about 20 meters from my office at the American University (had I known I would have prepared appropriately offensive signage to tape up on our windows). But before the meeting started, Ahmedinijad's handlers entered the meeting room and immediately began moving furniture around so the honorable president would sit physically higher than the lowly Kyryz parliamentarians, as per Iranian presidential protocol. The Kyrgyz side then told the Iranians to put arrangement back or blow their protocol up their revolutionary asses. The meeting was called off. A missed chance for Ahmedinijad to slather his anti-American rhetoric all over his Kyrgyz hosts, and great chance for the Kyrgyz to demonstrate their nomadic tradition of anti-authoritarianism.
Now that the summit is over, the constant sirens of presidential convoys have quieted, the 5,000+ policemen have been called off overtime duty, the security checkpoints have been removed, the cheap paint jobs have commenced peeling off within a few months, and most importantly, alcohol sales in the city center have resumed (now we can buy 25 cent vodka shots at the corner kiosk once again!). And our little mountainous republic can go back to it's quiet anonymity, basking in the gentle warmth of the fading days of summer.
Posts
