ISBN: 978-1-5017-2091-8
Pavel K Baev
Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO)
Astana, since 1997 the capital of Kazakhstan, with its striking
extra-modern architecture amidst desolate steppes, is the point of departure
for this thoughtful study in political geography. In order to test her ideas
about the purpose and impact of such massive investments, the author travels to
Baku, Azerbaijan and Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, and then further beyond the
post-Soviet space – to Abu Dhabi, OAE and Doha, Qatar, and to Bandar Seri
Begawan, Brunei and Naypyidaw, Myanmar. Contrasts between these spectacular
urban centers and the devastated environment of the drying Aral Sea or the
conflict-rich provinces of Myanmar are shocking, and if the Gulf states can
spread their prosperity wider, the war-torn Yemen is still in their
neighborhood. These contrasts compel many researchers to decry the efforts at
constructing the spectacular capitals as merely beautification of facades of
rent-harvesting authoritarian regimes. Koch disagrees with such simplistic
dismissal and argues that the political technology of creating stunning
buildings and breath-taking urban spaces needs to be taken seriously.
Megalomania may be a typical character trait of despotic leaders, but the
impressive results of their orders to channel resources toward erecting
architectural miracles make many inhabitants and visitors of these glitzy cities
proud of their respective countries. There is no denial of oppression and
corruption of Nazarbayev’s or Aliyev’s regimes, but it is indeed essential to acknowledge
the ‘more positive and inclusionary dimensions of authoritarian state-making’
(p. 16). Koch is perhaps more interested and convincing in challenging the
prevalent perspectives and raising questions about the complexity of messages
emanating from the newly-modernized cities than in supplying answers, informed partly
by the ever-green proposition on ‘structural violence’.