Alexander J. Motyl: The winners and losers of ‘nation-branding’
Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev (R) shakes hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin during a welcoming ceremony in Astana on Oct. 15.
MOTYL: Harper’s once called you the world’s premier Boratologist. How and why did you come to studythe Borat phenomenon?
SAUNDERS: Shortly after returning to the US from my first visit to Kazakhstan in 2002, a friend told me I should check out HBO’s Da Ali G Show because there was someone on the program pretending to be a Kazakhstani.
