Postcards from Stanland. David H. Mould

      Ohio University Press

      Athens

      Ohio University Press, Athens, Ohio 45701

       ohioswallow.com

      © 2016 by Ohio University Press

      All rights reserved

      To obtain permission to quote, reprint, or otherwise reproduce or distribute material from Ohio University Press publications, please contact our rights and permissions department at (740) 593-1154 or (740) 593-4536 (fax).

      Printed in the United States of America

      Ohio University Press books are printed on acid-free paper ™

      26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 5 4 3 2 1

      Cover image: You’re in the Polygon nuclear zone, but you wouldn’t know it.

      Unless otherwise noted, photographs are by the author.

       Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

      Mould, David H. (David Harley), 1949–

      Postcards from Stanland : journeys in Central Asia / David H. Mould.

      pages cm

      Summary: “Central Asia has long stood at the crossroads of history. It was the staging ground for the armies of the Mongol Empire, for the nineteenth-century struggle between the Russian and British empires, and for the NATO campaign in Afghanistan. Today, multinationals and nations compete for the oil and gas reserves of the Caspian Sea and for control of the pipelines. Yet “Stanland” is still, to many, a terra incognita, a geographical blank. Beginning in the mid-1990s, academic and journalist David Mould’s career took him to the region on Fulbright Fellowships and contracts as a media trainer and consultant for UNESCO and USAID, among others. In Postcards from Stanland, he takes readers along with him on his encounters with the people, landscapes, and customs of the diverse countries—Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan—he came to love. He talks with teachers, students, politicians, environmental activists, bloggers, cab drivers, merchants, Peace Corps volunteers, and more. Until now, few books for a nonspecialist readership have been written on the region, and while Mould brings his own considerable expertise to bear on his account—for example, he is one of the few scholars to have conducted research on post-Soviet media in the region—the book is above all a tapestry of place and a valuable contribution to our understanding of the post-Soviet world”—Provided by publisher.

      Includes bibliographical references and index.

      ISBN 978-0-8214-2176-5 (hardback : acid-free paper) — ISBN 978-0-8214-2177-2 (paperback : acid-free paper) — ISBN 978-0-8214-4537-2 (PDF)

      1. Asia, Central—Description and travel. 2. Mould, David H. (David Harley), 1949–—Travel—Asia, Central. 3. Kazakhstan—Description and travel. 4. Kyrgyzstan—Description and travel. 5. Tajikistan—Description and travel. 6. Uzbekistan—Description and travel. 7. Post-communism—Social aspects—Asia, Central. 8. Asia, Central—Social life and customs. 9. Asia, Central—Social conditions. I. Title.

      DS327.8.M68 2016

      958'.042—dc23

      2015036332

       Dedicated to my wife, Stephanie Hysmith, my lifetime traveling companion, and to the late Hubert Wilhelm, who taught me to see the world around me in new ways

      Contents

       List of Illustrations

       Preface

       ONE. Travels in “Kyrzakhstan”

       TWO. Sacred Mountain and Silly Borders

       THREE. How Do You Say “Rump Roast”?

       FOUR. Kasha, Honor, Dignity, and Revolution

       FIVE. On and Off the Silk Road

       SIX. To Be a Kazakh Is to Be “Brave and Free”

       SEVEN. Father of Apples

       EIGHT. The President’s Dream City

       NINE. Coal and Steel

       TEN. No Polygon, No Problem

       ELEVEN. Wheat and Oil

       TWELVE. The Seven Lessons from Stanland

       Notes

       Glossary and Acronyms

       Acknowledgments

       Index