Silk Road to Ruin: Why Central Asia is the Next Middle East

by Ted Rall

Part graphic novel travelogue, part tongue-in-cheek travel guide, this collection gathers the adventures of caustic cartoonist Ted Rall in the wild and woolly central Asian countries, a veritable powder keg sitting atop the oil the world will need tomorrow. The book combines articles with comics in chapters that relate Rall’s experiences retracing the legendary Silk Road, from the sublime history of China to the absurdity of the present-day petty dictatorships of the “The ’Stans,” to which the author had the temerity—or perhaps stupidity—to return, including once with a group of listeners on his radio show, on a dare. This always-lively compendium offers readers an exotic adventure, satire, and a fun way to find out more about an often overlooked part of the world that looms in importance with its immense, and immensely coveted, reserves of oil.

Genres: Nonfiction, Travel, Asia, Politics, Graphic Novels, Comics, History

320 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Ted Rall is a prominent left-leaning American political columnist, syndicated editorial cartoonist, and author. He draws cartoons for the news site WhoWhatWhy.org and the email newsletter Counterpoint, and writes for The Wall Street Journal opinion pages.

His political cartoons often appear in a multi-panel comic-strip format and frequently blend comic-strip and editorial-cartoon conventions.

The cartoons appear in approximately 100 newspapers around the United States. He is a former President of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists, a Pulitzer Prize finalist and twice the winner of the RFK Journalism Award.

He is the author of 20 books.

Reviews

[David Hill · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been reading Rall's political cartoons since about 9/11. I get that a lot of folks don't like his politics; he espouses some radical ideas. I would say I'm pretty far to the left on the political left/right axis, and although a lot of people think Rall is also far left, I disagree. He generally points to the evils of politicians in general rather than going after one side or the other. I put him in the "pox on both houses" category. I feel that after reading his opinions for a couple of decades I could apply the appropriate "Ted Rall" filter to this book.

This is a travelogue written by a political cartoonist. Because of that, it's not exactly a typical travelogue. A good travelogue will not only tell the story of the journey but put that journey in the context of the cultural and political landscape as well as the actual landscape. Some might feel that Rall goes on too much about politics, but I think it's inescapable in the case of the places he visits in this book.

Rall talks about at least three trips in the book. One trip he took with a friend, another was for a speaking engagement, and a third was as tour guide for a group. The book is organized, more or less, on country lines (rather than being organized around his visits). It is also split between text and graphic novel formats.

I needn't have been concerned about the calibration of my "Ted Rall" filter. Rall generally has his facts correct (as he usually does). My filter has to do with his interpretation of those facts. In the case of this book, I have no issues with this. These places he visits are repressive police states or active war zones or both. The officials are corrupt and the food is often ... difficult ... for Americans.

Back in 1975 while studying the Russian language, our class visited the Soviet Union. The original trip was going to be in summer, take a month, and we'd visit Tashkent and Alma Ata (Almaty), along with the more usual places (Moscow, Leningrad, Volgograd, etc.). This got to be too expensive, so we did a much shorter trip in February that skipped the visits to the SSRs that became the Stans Rall went to. I would have liked to have gone to those places, back when the Soviets ran them with their flavor of repression, where Westerners were relatively safe. I would never consider a visit today - too risky for me. So reading a book like this is as close as I'll get to visiting those places now.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rall covers much of the same ground covered by travel writer Colin Thubron in The Lost Heart of Central Asia, but his style of writing couldn’t be more different. While I hate the phrases highbrow and lowbrow, I’ve got to admit they’re the best choices for comparing the authors’ different takes on presenting Central Asia. Thubron is definitely highbrow, while Rall totally writes for the masses. His writing is highly entertaining, and Ruin contains several formats: prose, photography and graphic novel. It certainly provides an accurate sense of life in Central Asia as seen by a tourist, and it’s most definitely not your typical tourism. I definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in what life is like over here. However, I feel I should take Rall’s editor to task. Not only were there two factual errors that I caught (the Russian Revolution was in 1917, not 1918, and it's called a balbal, not a bubble), but there were numerous typographical errors. Additionally, while I enjoyed most of Rall’s adventures and misadventures in Central Asia, his tale of bribing airport officials to kick passengers (who had already bought tickets) off the last airplane out of Osh to make room for his tour group to escape the military clashes with Uzbekistan which were happening in 2000 didn’t sit well with me at all. Nonetheless, I still class this book as a recommended read.

[anarresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rall is a long time editorial cartoonist. In the mid-1990s a magazine agreed to pay to send him along the Silk Road from China to Turkey through the former Soviet countries of Central Asia. That became a graphic novella included in this book, along with more details in the text. Around the same time he also had an independent radio program, “Stan Watch” which reported stories out of the Central Asia countries Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, etc. He and some dedicated followers took a trip to a few of those same countries, another graphic novella included in this book. After September 11 another magazine sent him to report on terrorism in the area, since the borders between those Middle Eastern “stans” and the Central Asia ones are just lines on a map. The American government even sent him on a diplomatic visit to explain a free press to the slightly less than completely repressive dictatorships (as opposed to the fully repressive dictatorships next door.) Finally one more magazine sent him back to report on the “world” finals of an ancient, local and occasionally deadly blood sport that is keeping close ties and respected rivalries between the nations and tribes. These stories are either fully illustrated novellas or include panel cartoons, photographs, and maps to expand upon the text.

There is a lot of information covering a lot of years. I certainly knew little of these countries and their recent history, but I definitely have heard about some of the conflicts and American (and Russian and Chinese) interests in the area so the insight Rall’s stories and reporting provides is useful. There is political information, history, environmental concerns and cultural facts. Taking reports from so many years causes some repetition of information but the book is too dense to read straight through so the reminders are more useful than irritating.

[David Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

A series of gonzo travelogues about and political overviews of central Asia (ie "The Stans" like Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, etc), told half in prose, half in comics. The picture he paints is a post-Soviet nightmare that is backwards, impoverished, and hilariously corrupt. I knew nothing about the region going into the book and left feeling at least somewhat informed, and the book made getting there fun and humorous.

One of my favorite chapters is an overview of a sport popular in the region called Buzkashi, in which hundreds of men on horseback attempt to snag a decapitated goat and drag it through goalposts. There are no rules, and things like blinding an opponent with a riding crop is completely kosher. It's as dangerous as it sounds. Buzkashi matches frequently result in fatalities. The prize for winning is usually a rug or a goat, but a particularly important match might yield a car.

[Banana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book, lively and readable. Eye-opening as to the state of the world in this region. Does a great job of laying down in broad strokes what is going on there, what has happened to lead us to this point, and possible future scenarios. Also, a darkly humorous, lively travelogue. After reading this book I have recommended it to many people and sought out other information on the region. Great book.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny writing about an area of the world I have been researching lately so I value Ted Rall’s perspective....but boy, he really lays it on thick. Some of the areas he describes are not nearly as forelorn as he describes. He could use a bit less hyperbole and some more nuanced reporting to give a full explanation of the areas he visits. I know that is not his MO but would have made the book a bit more valuable to me.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit dated now, but super interesting.

[Wally · Rating 4 out of 5]

Journalist Ted Rall has been fascinated by Central Asia ever since he saw an article in National Geographic magazine as a boy, and with this book, he takes readers along with him on multiple trips to the remnants of the Soviet Empire, the third world nations known collectively as the Stans (Tajikistan, Kyrgystan, et al.). While he hosted his radio program “Stan Watch,” he practically dared listeners to join him on an excursion (“Stan Trek 2000”) through numerous checkpoints and border crossings involving beautiful mountain scenery, multiple visas, guns and bribes, high altitude drunken bus rides (the drivers were drunk, that is), and eventually, a near-mutiny from his American tourists.

This book seemed like the perfect introduction to the region with in-depth, factual reporting on how the seven nation states fared after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and Rall’s credentials as the radio host of KFI’s “Stan Watch” program are unparalleled. Also, he relates some of his travelogues in a graphic novella form, which gives immediacy to his personal stories in a way that text alone cannot.

[Nancy Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I believe this is one of those books that need to be covered and promoted for the sake of humanity especially people who are living in the west with blinders on. Mostly reads as a courageous rebel travel log. The culture and especially the environment seems to be heading towards genocide. The knowledge that 500 species of birds, 200 species of mammals and a hundred species of fish in 2002 are extinct. People born with defects because of nuclear testing and the threat of major environmental disaster and disease. More crimes committed and to be continued for the power of controlling the resources there. it's a shame that the desperate race between the super powers will create a tremendous loss of life and culture of fear. This was the early years after 2001. We have no clue what's happening now and can only assume that with no human intervention or compassion to protect the life that's there it's not going to get better.

[D. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rall gets points for being entertaining, particularly the travelogue aspect of his writing (and drawing,) as well as in the bleak and fatalistic descriptions of the autocratic governments of the former Soviet republics. While he doesn't attempt to hide it or otherwise pretend to have an objective point of view, his ideological leftism is ultimately what prevents me from giving this a higher rating (n.b. I consider myself a liberal.) His knee jerk dislike of US policy leaves me with an odd taste in my mouth, as well as the sense that he doesn't really understand how interest based foreign policy works.

[Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

a great book. part travel log, part textbook regarding a disgracefully userved part of the world, non-fiction political thriller, part comic book by a fantastic author and an award-winning editorial cartoonist. will Central Asia become the most important region in the world? will the united states continue to talk about promoting democracy, while actively supporting violent, cruel and despotic regimes that happen to be sitting on an ocean of oil, or located in a convenient location? all evidence, of course, points to yes...

[Ty Keith · Rating 5 out of 5]

First off, this is a mesmerizing read. It is informative, entertaining, thought-provoking, scary and troublesome if you are an American reader. Spoiler Alert: our foreign policy in the region is not good. Rall's writing works for both the Central Asian novice or someone who is well-read on the subject...for an American. There is good balance between the text and the illustrated (cartoon) pages.

My only minor complaint is that this up-dated edition or second edition could have been a bit better organized.

[Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once again Ted Rall delivers an entertaining yet scathing report on Central Asia, and indicts America's role in supporting the dictators and their civil rights abuses due to oil policies. A MUST read!

[Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rall is far from an objective source, but he's entertaining. Probably not a bad starting point for understanding the region, assuming it's accurate... With the way the book was pulled together, there is some content overlap among certain chapters. Good overall.

[Martha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Real life adventure by Rall the cartoonist who is also a very intrepid traveler. A part of the world most Americans hardly know about. Compelling writing, great pictures, and an eye opener.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book for clarifying some of the geo-politics of Central Asia.

[Jean Corbel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating, chilling...

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Minus one star because a paragraph in this book I read aloud changed Liana's mind about us traveling to Kazakhstan.

[Encinitas Library · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book confirmed my suspicions about US motivations in the region.

[Devin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny and informative.

[Bryanzk · Rating 5 out of 5]

freaking countries...especially the envs catastrophe.. how could we help them? ...