Kyrgyzstan and Manas: Understanding the bigger picture

The Manas airbase has been an ongoing source of controversy since it first opened in 2001. Just 650 miles from Kabul, Manas may be ideally placed for supplying troops to Afghanistan but its presence was always going to rile Russia, who still sees Kyrgyzstan and her Central Asian neighbours as part of the motherland despite nearly 20 years of nominal independence. Calls in 2006 for the base to close were scotched when the US increased the value of its lease to $63m but this still falls far short of the $200m the Kyrgyz government requested. The disparity in amounts provided former Prime Minister Igor Chudinov with a useful, if not entirely believable, justification for yet another round of pressure on Manas.

The first question we have to ask is why does Kyrgyzstan matter? It is a mountainous, land-locked country with a population of just five million and, unlike its neighbours, it has negligible mineral resources. The economy is supported by contributions from Kyrgyz working abroad and foreign aid agencies, loans from the World Bank and IMF, and the income brought in by the US and Russian airbases. One thing, however, brings Kyrgyzstan to the attention of foreign powers: its geo-political position.

Three main groups have a concern in Kyrgyzstan: the Chinese, the Russians and the US. We’ll briefly look at the nature of, and reasons for, their interest in the country.  Kyrgyzstan borders China’s Xinjiang autonomous province, a region ruled from Beijing but populated by people who include Uighurs, Kazakhs, Tajiks and Kyrgyz. Xinjiang suffers ongoing tension and occasional violent outbreaks, such as the murder of 16 Chinese police officials by separatists in August 2008. Beijing policy is to increase the number of Han Chinese in the region in the hope that it will bring greater control and, as a result, stability. Financial incentives are offered to those moving to, and opening businesses in, Xinjiang and also over the border in Kyrgyzstan. The Chinese are actively purchasing Kyrgyz territory to expand their influence and, most importantly, to acquire alpine lakes and rivers that can be diverted to supply water to desert areas in Xinjiang. The most significant impact of this acquisition for Kyrgyzstan has been that a number of the country’s recently built hydroelectric power stations are not getting the water supplies they require; Bishkek’s power supply is insufficient to provide electricity around the clock.

Direct Russian influence in Kyrgyzstan has been felt since 1876 when the country became part of the Russian Empire. The country was established as a full republic of the USSR in 1936 and only formally declared independence from Moscow in August 1991. The Russians formerly trained all of their air force pilots in Kyrgyzstan and continue to keep an airbase in Bishkek; it’s just 20 miles from Manas. Large numbers of Kyrgyz are employed in Moscow and Russian companies dominate Kyrgyz industry; the Russian-managed Komtor gold mine single-handedly contributes 10% of Kyrgyzstan’s GDP.

Whilst Eastern Europe has fallen sway to the influence of the EU, Central Asia is still a region in which Russia can have an impact. The 2009/10 package of $2 billion in loans and $150 million in aid is as important for the area as a whole as it is for Kyrgyzstan. The loans are to be repaid over a five year period at a rate of 3% above Libor which, although not unfeasible for a developed country, is nigh on impossible when we consider that Kyrgyzstan’s GDP (nominal) in 2007 was just $3.748 billion. Put simply, the Russians are offering a loan they’re confident cannot be repaid. What is more, a large portion of the loan is earmarked for the construction of dams controlling water supply to Uzbekistan. Once the Kyrgyz default on their loan, the dam will come under Russian control. This will require the Uzbeks to play ball with Russia as long as they want continued irrigation for cotton, their greatest agricultural export.

The last of the three major players in Kyrgyzstan is, of course, the US. The Manas airbase is home to 1000 military personnel and serves as the primary hub for air operations in Afghanistan. With the withdrawal of troops from Iraq, the US has a single-point of military focus: Central Asia. Success in Afghanistan, and the prestige which would come from succeeding where the British and Russians have repeatedly failed, will depend on a reliable supply route for men, munitions and other goods. Whilst relations with Iran and Pakistan are a little less than rosy, Kyrgyzstan is the most convenient and stable of the alternatives.

The US also runs a 160-man embassy in Kyrgyzstan – a huge number of representatives considering the size of the population. Across Central Asia the US is running a hearts and minds campaign to counter-balance the influence of Russia, particularly when it comes to the control of gas and oil. While Gazprom has to date directed the supplies of Central Asian gas to Europe through its Caspian pipelines, the US is now backing the EU’s proposal to build the $10.19 billion Nabucco pipeline from Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan, through Turkey and the Balkans to Central Europe. Permission to build the pipeline, not to mention the ability to secure its supply, depends upon convincing local governments to support Europe’s interests over those of Russia. This is no mean feat.

An Oriental Obsession: How the tea trade influenced European design

“That excellent, and by all physicians approved, China drink, called by the Chineans Tcha, by other nations Tay, alias Tee, is sold at the Sultaness Head Coffee-House, in Sweeting's Rents… It helpeth the headache, giddiness and heaviness thereof. It removeth the obstructions of the spleen...It prevents and cures agues, surfeits, and fevers by infusing a fit quantity of the leaf; thereby provoking a most gentle vomit and breathing of the pores, and hath been given with wonderful success….It is good for colds, dropsies, and scutvies, and expelleth infection.”                                                     
                                    Advert by Thomas Garraway in the Mercurious Politicus, 1658

When tea arrived in London in the 1650s it was heralded as a miracle cure-all, brought from exotic lands at the far ends of the earth to be the salvation of the English man. What Garraway and his contemporaries could not have anticipated was that their bitter tasting health drink would become an international phenomenon, influencing aspects of life from architecture to technology, dress-making and the decorative arts to theological debate. While a great deal of work has been done on the social impact of tea drinking and its impact on public health, very little has been done on the wider influence of the tea trade on European fashions.

Tea as a commodity is very light so additional cargoes had to be carried as ballast on the ships that brought the tea from Canton and around the Cape of Good Hope to Europe. The most obvious choice was Chinese porcelain which, in the form of tea sets and dinner services, was the perfect accompaniment to shipments of tea. Porcelain was much admired for its strength, fineness and beautiful glazes but the secret of its manufacture was closely guarded by the Chinese. From the time of Marco Polo rumours had abounded of its supposed ingredients – egg shells and bones to name but two – and the techniques required to make it, but it would not be until 1709 that Europeans mastered porcelain making for themselves. In the meantime porcelain, or ‘chinaware’ as it was more commonly called, could only be acquired from direct China.

Chinaware, as with tea, was a great hit amongst society figures in London, Paris and Amsterdam, so much so that in 1659 alone 56,7000 pieces were ordered to be shipped to Holland. European customers had certain expectations for their new Chinese goods: they should be in a supposedly Chinese style but still appealing to European tastes. Chinoiserie was born. Where Chinese factories led the way producing new designs to appeal to the European market, European sprung up in Meissen, Delft, and Stafford, painting their porcelain and similar wares with scenes of an idealised China. The blue and white Willow pattern, inspired by a non-existent Chinese prototype, became an instant hit and made its way into fashionable homes everywhere.

Chinese porcelain and pieces in a Chinese style were considered the height of sophistication and so had to be displayed for all to see. Lacquered cabinets, bamboo dressers and furniture painted with exotic scenes and oriental figures were considered the perfect way to show off chinaware and so, as with the porcelain itself, both the import of Chinese originals and the production of European imitations increased.

Drinking Chinese tea from a Chinese tea set and sat upon supposedly Chinese furniture, it is hardly a surprise that the next step was to be the Chinese room so that one might have the complete, ‘authentic’ Chinese experience. Wallpaper featuring Chinese scenes, not dissimilar to those in the willow pattern, were widely produced, oriental silks hung from the windows and covered furniture, and woodblock prints and watercolours finished off the oriental look. The most famous rooms of this kind still in existence are the Chinese House at Potsdam, and the Brighton Pavilion, the epitome of the Chinoiserie style.

Two factors led the Chinoiserie style to spread outdoors across fashionable parklands and gardens. Firstly, both the wealthy and their garden designers felt an urge to recreate at home the oriental scenes with which they had become so familiar. The pagoda in Kew Gardens is perhaps the most famous example of Chinese buildings being transposed into a very European context although, perhaps more entertaining, is the suggestions of one Sir George Sitwell  that all of the cows on his estate be stencilled with a blue Chinese pattern so that they complement his many garden works and follies. Much to the disappointment of Sir George, the animals in question refused to oblige and he was forced to abandon the scheme. Secondly, unlike coffee, tea was seen to be a drink for all the family. Neither pubs nor coffee houses were fit places for respectable women and children to assemble and so purpose-built tea gardens were built so that tea may be enjoyed in suitable, oriental-themed surroundings. The Vauxhall Tea Garden was opened to the public in the late 17^th century and was one of London’s most popular attractions for nearly 200 years. Guests paid a small entrance fee and were treated to concerts, dances and theatrical performances, as well as the perfect environment to socialise.

Whether hosting a tea party at home or visiting a city tea garden, meeting over tea was the perfect opportunity for a society woman to reveal her affluence and taste to her contemporaries. Tea gowns made of chintz – hand-painted Indian calico – were a popular choice, as were oriental-inspired outfits such as silk kimonos. The latter were inevitably accessorised with fans, gloves and chop sticks to complete the look. These eccentric outfits caught the attention of artists such as Monet, Whistler and Degas, who were inspired by the colours and textures of the clothes but also by the exoticism they represented in the East. Whistler’s 1864 painting La Princess du Pays de Porcelaine reveals how fascination with the Orient had become entrenched in Europe’s fine art as well craftsmanship and flights of fancy.