I happened upon a strange article about a notebook that is being spread about Uzbekistan.

There was a smiling picture of another country’s president on the cover of the notebook. The notebook also contained copies of various issues of that president’s book, which is popular in his country, state symbols of that country - its flag and emblem. There was the text of the oath of that country’s citizens and anthem on the inner side of the cover page….

The strange thing is that there is no information about which publishing houses printed these notebooks. It is clear that if the address of the publisher, in other words the source of a product is not indicated, then it is considered to be contraband.

The article does not actually tell the reader what president or which country is depicted by the notebook… just that it was likely originally printed in China, and that the author was able to trace the distribution source to the Osh oblast in Kyrgyzstan. The author concludes by asking the readers for information on where the “unacceptable material” might be coming from.

Do traders not know that they are dancing to somebody else’s tune or are they pretending to be patsy?

All in all, the article does in fact beg a variety of questions:

• Which Central Asian president is depicted on these notebooks?
• Who indeed is responsible for distributing them?
• Is this part of an elaborate propaganda strategy of oneupmanship within Central Asia?
• What exactly does “pretending to be patsy” mean?

In regard to the first question, I at first assumed that the book must be the Rukhnama, and the president in question must be none other than Turkmenistan President Niyazov. Then again, Kazakhstan President Nazarbayev is also an author, has a closer relationship with China, and has a much more effective PR apparatus.

Perhaps our readers can lend insight.