Kazakhstan: Unfulfilled Promise

Rating:
Summary: lacks a lot of supporting information, no comparisons ...
Review: except for Nigeria.
For an "analytical work" the book has a few noticable biases and faults :
1. The book asserts certain claims that are either unreasonable or completely out of hand with the reality. For example, in 1991 Alash Party attempted to assasinate!!! Mr. Derbesaliev, who now became head of Kazakh moslems. FYI: Alash party existed in 1917-1918 and fought for independence from Russian Empire and later Communist Russia, however, the leaders of the party were murdered later by bolsheviks. Alash party was revived very recently (with a different agenda) as part of opposition in Kazakhstan. I am not going to touch on opposition here, because the book doesn't directly address the existence of opposition in Kazakhstan (both constructive and ultra-right/left).
2. Ms. Olcott is surprised at the fact there were no uprisings in Kazakhstan during the period of economic and political turmoil in early/mid 90's (actually, there have been none until this very day). I suppose that would in itself tell something about stability in the country. I understand that for her (or perhaps funds that sponsored her) it would have been better if there was an uprising and as a result the country would see "friendly" forces of NATO coming into the country to take care of the rich natural reserves of oil/metals/uranium/you name it, but at the same time install "democracy". I think people do remember the experience of the US in making democracies in post-WWII world; the list of Latin American and Asian countries would be a little overwhelming to be included.
3. Ms. Olcott claims that lately the difference between rich and poor grew immensely (notice, that under communism Gini index is supposed to be as low as possible). Isn't it a natural process to be observed in a country trying to go from communist society to capitalist society? Notice, Gini index in Kazakhstan is 35.4, in the US Gini index is 40.8 (data from CIA World Fact Book). Hence, the spread of incomes between rich and poor is smaller in Kazakhstan than in the US. Would that mean by Ms. Olcott's logic that the US has more issues with the layers of the society than Kazakhstan?
4. Ms. Olcott notices existence of Kazakh nationalism in the fact that Kazakhstan encourages Kazakhs to immigrate into the country. When any EU country gives a right for permanent residence/naturalization to foreign citizens based on the right of birth/ethnicity it is considered normal (of course, Ms. Olcott doesn't mention this in her book). However, Kazakhstan approved the same rights for Kazakhs living abroad, so for Ms. Olcott it is an epitome of Kazakh nationalism and attempts of Kazakh "dictator" Mr. Nazarbayev to make the country mononational.
5. The usual rule that the language of titular nation is always the state language elicits fury from Ms. Olcott when such regulations happen in Kazakhstan.
6. Ms. Olcott essentially equates the terrorism and Islam. For her, the fact that there are more Kazakhs these days who claim to be moslems is worrying and may signal the coming of terrorism. Basically, if the Americans go to church every weekend it is freedom of choice, but if Kazakh goes to a mosque that is a reason to worry. Of course she fails to mention that Kazakhstan doesn't prohibit different mainstream religions. While travelling through Kazakhstan, one can see a lot of Christian Orthodox churches, as well as a few Catholic churches and synagogues, which in Kazakhstan is certainly considered to be perfectly normal.
It seems that this book is biased in presenting the situation in Kazakhstan. I wonder who are the sponsors of this book (sounds like some oil companies could be)...

Rating:
Summary: Not easy to read but so definitely worth it
Review: If you no background whatsoever on Kazakhstan then it might be a bit difficult to follow all the events. Having said that, Martha Olcott is by far one of the biggest experts on Kazakhstan and if you want to see the opinion of the best then you should give this book a shot.

Rating:
Summary: Not easy to read but so definitely worth it
Review: If you no background whatsoever on Kazakhstan then it might be a bit difficult to follow all the events. Having said that, Martha Olcott is by far one of the biggest experts on Kazakhstan and if you want to see the opinion of the best then you should give this book a shot.

Rating:
Summary: deep, heavy book but makes Kaz more understandable
Review: We are adopting a baby from Kaz and wanted a little background on the country. This is not a light read by any means. It gives you a lot of info on the current Kaz president (and his corrupt ways), oil reserves and who's competing for them, ethnic struggles between the Russians and Kakahs, and the apathetic ways of the Kaz voters to name a few of the many topics it addresses. Get it for good background on a variety of important topics vital to Kaz's future success.