Skip to main content

Dark Shadows - In the Press 3

European Interest, an independent online news and feature publication, has conducted an in-depth interview with Joanna Lillis, drawing on some of the themes developed in her book Dark Shadows: inside the Secret World of Kazakhstan.
Is Kazakhstan's 78-year-old President Nursultan Nazarbayev getting ready to hand over the mic to a successor?
Below, we have a taster from this cracking interview, to read the whole piece, click here. 
Nazarbayev is 78 years old. Is there any indication that he is preparing his succession? What will happen in the country after he leaves power?

This is a good question, and one on many people’s lips – although I have to add that the question has been on the agenda for all the time I have been living in Kazakhstan, which is 13 years.
There are indications that Nazarbayev and his entourage are preparing for the succession, such as the limited political reforms designed to create a more collegial system of government enacted last year. However, I would add that the passage of constitutional amendments that granted Nazarbayev the right to intervene in policy-making after his retirement dates back to 2010 – and he has not stepped down yet, so anyone who thinks he is preparing to do so now is quite rash, in my view! Furthermore, I believe that it would be hard for a man with such a towering personality and a strong opinion of the benefits of his own rule, who has ruled the country for nearly three decades, to step down and take a back seat in politics for the rest of his life.

Nevertheless, Nazarbayev is now 78, and as an astute politician he, and also his entourage, must be engaged in succession planning behind the scenes. I am inclined to think that when the time comes it will not be as dramatic as people think – look at Uzbekistan, where people predicted all kinds of dire scenarios when the time for a change of president came, but the succession went smoothly – albeit undemocratically. Likewise, in Kazakhstan I think the elites will consolidate around a certain figure and ensure that person’s election, when the time comes, albeit possibly with a cat fight behind the scenes.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dark Shadows US Tour Recap

Joanna Lillis, the author of the best-selling  Dark Shadows: Inside the Secret World of Kazakhstan , has completed her successful tour of the USA following the book's North American publication on 30 January.  Dark Shadows arrives in the Big Apple! Here we publish links to videos of two events, so you can watch on catch-up if you missed them on the day. Joanna Lillis in conversation with Alex Cooley at the Harriman Institute at Columbia University, New York Here’s a  link   to video of a  Q and A   with Alex Cooley about  Dark Shadows  at the Harriman Institute at Columbia University in New York, where you can hear how the book came about and learn more about the diverse, from-the-ground reportage that it contains, if you missed the event on the day.  Kazakhstan’s Quest for Identity at the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University And here’s a   link   to the author’s   presentation...
1 comment
Read more

Dark Shadows Around the World

It's been just over six months since Joanna Lillis's Dark Shadows: Inside the Secret World of Kazakhstan was published in the UK by I. B. Tauris, and in that time it has turned up in some surprising corners of the world. Dark Shadows spotted at Niagara Falls, Canadian side So far, it has made the short trip across the channel to make an appearance in the venerable Shakespeare and Co in Paris , crossed Hadrian's Wall to Scotland , winged its way by post to  Mongolia , sailed across the expanse of the Atlantic to turn up in  Niagara Falls in Canada and the  Bronx , and even popped up in  Mexico  and the exotic Caribbean island of  Curaçao. Dark Shadows on  Curaçao island Who knows where this esteemed tome will end up next? Avid bookworms should keep on posting their pics of Dark Shadows on Twitter and tag in @joannalillis, or send them to us here at darkshadows@gmail.com. For any readers who have yet to get their hands on a copy...
1 comment
Read more

Dark Shadows: In the Press 5: Here Come the Reviews...

Check out the latest reviews of  Dark Shadows  in the international media! The book has recently been reviewed by two renowned historians, Peter Frankopan and Alexander Morrison, both of Oxford University.  Dark Shadows meets The Silk Roads - Joanna Lillis meets Peter Frankopan in Oxford in November 2018 Writing in  The Spectator , Peter Frankopan described  Dark Shadows as “ astute, refreshing and revelatory”, and also “surprisingly tender, showing not only [Lillis’s] affection but her care in trying to make sense of a country that needs to be understood warts and all”.  “She introduces a cast of characters one could not make up, from an Old Believer living in the north of the country to a militant atheist, whose grim convictions are not entirely appealing,” he continues. “We meet those suffering from the effects of Soviet-era nuclear experiments and children infected with HIV in a blood scandal, whose dignity in the face of injustice and trag...
1 comment
Read more