TURKMENISTAN'S RECDRD-SETTING REPRESSION.

• Author: Binion, Billy
• Position: TURKMENISTAN

TURKMEN PRESIDENT GURBANGULY Berdimuhamedov is many things: equestrian, pop star, collector of Guinness World Records, marksman, lifter, poet, race car driver, and brutal authoritarian.

The last role is the most important. But it is also the one about which there is arguably the least information, as Berdimuhamedov's Turkmenistan is one of the most secretive and repressive dictatorships on the planet.

Berdimuhamedov isn't so shy himself. The Turkmen president balances out his harsh governance with flamboyant public displays. In one popular video clip, he "plays" a white guitar clad in a pastel green sweater--though the fog creeping up from below, obscuring his hands, casts doubt on his musical chops. The crowd doesn't seem to mind. In a different video, Berdimuhamedov shoots at targets while his ministers look on with adoration. In another, he triumphantly lifts a thin golden rod above his head, which looks as if it weighs about as much as a fishing pole. He does donuts in his car, writes poetry, and races on golden Akhal-Teke horses, of which he owns nearly 10 percent of the world's population.

Berdimuhamedov has used spectacles like these to curate a bizarre cult of personality around himself. Core to his image is a quest to nab as many Guinness World Records as possible. Since he ascended to Turkmenistan's top office in 2007, the country has clinched quite a few superlatives, including "largest single line bike parade," "largest...