I want to tell you a story.

A story about a man called Aliyev.

Haydar Aliyev, president of the Republic of Azerbaijan, once part of the Soviet Union.

Because, and I'm taking a flyer on this one, I'm guessing you don't know a whole lot about him.

But he is crucial to our story.

Now, Hedar Aliev certainly wasn't born to power.

His dad was just a railway man, a man who knew about hard work, who knew about grease and oil.

But as a kid, Haydard, he wasn't into trains.

Shakespeare was more his thing.

And Shakespeare has a lot to say about leaders, ruthless leaders.

Haydar first learned to be ruthless when he was just a teen. In World War II, he commanded a division

that executed army deserters.

And that ruthlessness, it would never leave him.

Later, he ran the KGB in Azerbaijan.

And in the KGB, there's only one thing that matters more than ruthlessness.

Loyalty.

In time, the head honcho's in the Kremlin made him head honcho in Azerbaijan.

He cracked down on crime, smashed the mafia ruthlessly, and he remained loyal, very loyal.

One time, Soviet President Leonid Brezhnev was due to visit.

Haydard built him an entire palace.

Brezhnev stayed for just two nights.

When the Soviet Union collapsed,

...