I am not referring to his reputation as a world-class plunderer, but as a revolutionary and rather civic-minded leader who brought together the disparate tribes of the Mongolian steppe, promoted freedom of religion, modernized warfare, and, relatively speaking, was decent to the conquered.
Oh, sure, he slaughtered the leaders of the vanquished, but generally disbelieved in slavery and had boundaries when it came to women and children. He assimilated the conquered into his own tribal families, thereby creating loyalty and a close-knit government group. He ran a tight, efficient ship.
Were he alive today, I don’t think Genghis Khan would need an International Monetary Fund bailout. He would have one of the most promising countries – one blessed with natural resources and well-educated people – humming along, to the envy of Ukraine’s neighbors.
I have often felt the great Khan of the 12th century got a bad public relations rap, partly because his name sounded so fearful – unlike another Turkic/Mongol, Tamerlane (Timur the Lame), who had this musical sounding handle but was one mean invader.
I realize this assessment is subjective. After all, both these guys started life by killing their older brothers, which most child psychologists would say is not a good sign.
A few months ago, I wrote a column based on fable in which Ukraine’s President Viktor Yanukovych had an epiphany. While touring the grounds of his palatial mansion, he heard a voice which he at first attributed to his dog, Sparky. It said ephemerally, “You don’t need all this.”
With such a sign, Yanukovych did a double-somersault and became, in essence, the founder of modern Ukraine. His good deeds were so remarkable the people tore down the Defender of the Motherland statue and one resembling Ukraine’s fourth president was erected.
Yanukovych became a modern day George Washington, minus the bad teeth and powdered wig.
In this wacky fable, Yanukovych released former prime minister, Yulia Tymoshenko from prison, saying that while she’s probably guilty of something, no one should go to jail for making a bad deal with the Russians. He closed the deal on the European Union, but backed away from a NATO agreement.
I received a lot of comments on that column, most derisively dismissing it and me as a dreamer who was obviously under the influence of a legal beverage or, perhaps, illegal weed. My only point was the first honest president of Ukraine who wants to leave a legacy for his grandchildren will be revered by history.
Perhaps my belief is based on the fact that I am 67 years old, been through several careers and even a little money, and am quite satisfied with the fate that I will never own a Bentley or anything more elegant than my five-year-old Toyota Prada. Ok, perhaps a little Pollyanna also, but I enjoy my illusions.
In that column, I made the fanciful assumption that a legacy carries with it more riches than any official can steal, and that Ukraine’s sorry leadership to date had placed the bar so low that a reasonably honest fellow could jump over it from a flat-footed standstill while in heavy combat boots.
But it takes a certain type of leader for this: The howling crowd suggested that I was nuts (a debatable assumption) because Ukraine’s history did not lend itself to this sort of leadership metamorphosis. After 70 years of communism, the chatter was that it was simply not possible.
Bull pucky. That’s probably the same line on Genghis from tribal naysayers. It simply takes someone with a big idea who wants to do the right thing – for his children, his grandchildren, for Ukraine and for his place in this country’s long and storied history.
It takes a visionary like Egypt’s late Anwar Sadat, who said, yes, I can bring Israel and the Arabs together at least for a short time with the Middle East Peace Accords. It takes a Hannibal who says, hell yeah, I can cross the Alps and take on the Romans on their own territory – with elephants.
It takes a Martin Luther King who says, “I have a dream.”
It takes a Genghis Khan.
It takes a real leader.
Kyiv Post CEO Michael Willard can be reached at [email protected].
