Things I am proud to have worked into my thesis chapter on Kazakhstan:
- Roman Vassilenko’s YouTube account
- Kazakhstan’s rich backcatalogue of US newspaper advertisements
- The response to Borat (forthcoming, anyway)
It was getting way too serious. Thank goodness for a section on public diplomacy to lighten things up…
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Nathan Hamm – author of 2040 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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Can’t wait to read it. Must be nice seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.
Dear Nathan,
I am especially interested in hearing more about your “response to Borat.” When I wrote on the theme, I actually got some publicity – an article in Norway’s leading paper “Aftenposten.” Why, I cannot really see, but people seem fascinated by most angles of the subject.
Yours,
Vilhelm
Alas, it did not make it in. And, I’m afraid I was being imprecise. I was going to discuss how Kazakhstan’s embassies in the US and UK capitalized on Borat to get out a more accurate message about Kazakhstan.
I didn’t put it in for a couple reasons. First is that I just wanted to finish the damned chapter. Second is that the public diplomacy section was already getting a bit long.
I believe someone had challenged me to work Borat into my thesis somehow. Who knows, maybe I’ll still be able to.