Not to sound like a communist sympathizer, but it’s looking like the ‘stans were better off when they were under Soviet control. I don’t know much about the other ‘stans but I can say that the Turkmen didn’t gain any more freedoms when the Soviet Union broke up. In fact, they’re probably more restricted.
Say what you will about the Soviets (maybe it was the competition brought on by the Cold War, maybe it was intrinsic) but they had competitive athletes at the Olympics and they had a strong ballet program. When T-bag the D-bag took power of Turkmenistan at the collapse of the U.S.S.R., he banned opera and ballet. And you will never see a Turkmen athlete medal at the Olympics.
The Turkmen, like every group that has been under the thumb of an empire, struggled with identity and T-bag’s answer was to write the Ruhnama, a book of fake Turkmen history and culture, and demonize everything that wasn’t “Turkmen,” hence the ban on opera and ballet, etc. He also created a personality cult, renaming days of the week and months after himself and family members, erecting gold statues of himself everywhere and requiring that students study the Ruhnama in school.
For awhile there was hope that his successor (who some claim is T-bag’s illegitimate son) was going to be less megalomaniacal. But as his reign continues, those hopes are diminishing as the word on the street is that he’s writing a new book to replace the Ruhnama and has talked about “maintaining the purity of the Turkmen race.” Increasingly foreigners are being removed, the internet is being restricted, and there’s a move now toward eliminating satellite dishes because they “make buildings look bad” when in reality it’s because they deliver television from Russia and Turkey and even BBC news to some families.
In order for a despot to control his subjects, it’s important to squash voices of dissent and to encourage what I would call a sheep mentality. Brainwashing and indoctrination are the order of the day in every Turkmen school, propaganda on every Turkmen TV channel and in the only Turkmen newspaper. There’s a reason you will never hear of a famous Turkmen artist or musician or dancer or filmmaker or writer or scientist or inventor or entrepreneur.
You know, I can think of another country that was under the thumb of a tyrant and struggled to find its identity early after gaining its independence. Because it celebrated the diversity of its residents and allowed further immigration against the protests of its more closed-minded citizens; because it honored and encouraged individuality and invention and innovation and creativity; because it chose democracy as its political system, it became the birthplace of countless inventions and technologies, a place where other people hope to live. It has its flaws, but it is a model new nations should look to for inspiration.
Here's a link to a site that discusses the Kazakhstan situation.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2011/11/18/peace_corps_to_quit_kazakhstan/