Korean Job Discussion Forums

[huffdaddy]

Have there been any truly great (in a bad sense of course) female dictators? Very few seem to have filled the bill.

This December, Islam Karimov is up for reelection. Even though the Uzbek Constitution forbids him from running, it didn't stop him from being reelected in 2000 with 92% of the vote. One of the possible scenarios is seeing his daughter, Gulnara Karimova take the reigns of the Republic. If you think a female would provide a softer approach to the country's heavy handedness, you'd be wrong.

-
From [http://www.ural.ru].


Highlights of Gulnara's career:

-Harvard education

-Married an Uzbek-American Coca-Cola executive and helped Coca-Cola to flourish in Uzbekland. After her husband asked for a divorce in America, she fled with their children and used government strongmen to crush the Coca-Cola business in Uzbekistan. To avoid arrest after her flight with the children, who her husband gained custody of, she was made a diplomat.

-Regularly uses her position to profit from privatization of government industries and sales of Uzbek resources.

-Runs nightclubs in Tashkent. Any competition is quickly crushed via government "regulations."

-Traffics women to be prostitutes around the world.

-Has been accused of torturing not just political opponents, but business opponents as well.

-A music video

Reports are that she's not very popular with the Uzbek people. During my time there, we were told to steer clear of political discussions, so I'm not sure how strong the distaste is. Her father Islam is closing in on 70, so another 8-year term is possible, but so is the possibility of a need for change.

The question is, how will Uzbekistan handle the transition? This will be their first presidential election since the Tulip Revolution in neighboring Kyrgyzstan. There's a variety of ethnicities and regions (as per Stalin's master plan) that keep the country from having any truly unified opposition. That may bode well for the next dictator, but it could also lead to localized resistances. If the local resistances can spread, there could be a major change in the works. A lot depends on how fed up the Uzbek people have finally become.

Karimov's decision to run or not will be significant news for the region. As will his choice of successor. It could get very interesting.

See also:
http://neweurasia.net/?p=1547
http://www.harpers.org/archive/2007/06/hbc-90000241
http://www.despardes.com/newsmakers/GULNARA-NOV30.htm
http://archive.muslimuzbekistan.com/eng/ennews/2003/10/ennews29102003.html

[Alyallen]

Interesting post.

A smart but evil woman becoming a dictator? Sounds like a movie premise but I suppose it is a possibility...

I don't know much about Uzbekistan's influence in its region but I can see how this could be a problem. But if it is a simple handover from one dictator to another dictator, it might simply be business as usual in Uzbekistan.

[ddeubel]

I posted about Uzbekistan and in particular Andijan, a while back. Excellent video from the carnagie foundation, linked.

http://forums.eslcafe.com/korea/viewtopic.php?t=59814&highlight=uzbekistan

http://www.carnegieendowment.org/publications/index.cfm?fa=view&id=18453&prog=zru

I don't think a woman would be any different. Same old, same old. So long as the money buys the support......the right people get paid.

I think the arguement for a woman leader being more benevolent and "intelligent" in the gross sense of that word, has merit but only if that woman is in the proper environment. If she is around a bunch of animals, women are just as capable of acting as an animal/brute.

I also think that the West's own attitude towards these central Asian countries is so full of B.S. Reflected by how welcomed Karimov was by Bush, despite the atrocities, torture, so documented by Amnesty International. This comes about through a very "monty pythonish" lobby in Washington by which these countries keep the wheels greased. See Ken Silverstein's fine investigative journalism regarding this (and Turkmenistan) in particular, here....very revealing. (and please Gopher, don't chime in with the old, "Washington doesn't really do this and Silverstein is just a greasy haired "muckracker". Isn't the case. )

http://www.harpers.org/archive/2007/07/0081591
DD

[huffdaddy]

[huffdaddy]

[On the other hand]

[On the other hand]

Simone Duvalier, wife of Papa Doc and de facto ruler of Haiti after the acension of her teenaged son.

[huffdaddy]

Well, it looks like the Uzbek elections have been settled. Karimov is running for a third term.

link

[Ya-ta Boy]

Reports indicate that Livia may well have been the lead in Augustus' pencil.