(Astana, Kazakhstan)
Jason Bates, a current student from Utah Valley University, was able to travel to three Asian countries, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan in May of 2012. This is part one of his three-nation report. Report on Kazakhstan Jason Bates, Political Science Major, Utah Valley University Kazakhstan is, from all accounts and from my experience, by far the most prosperous and well off of the Central Asian republics. Almaty (until the late 1990s the capital of independent Kazakhstan) is a beautiful town of apparent wealth and has a bustling, fast growing feeling to it. The central business district has new skyscrapers, clean streets, and multiple projects in the works that grants the city a vibrant growing feeling. Along with nice modern shopping centers and highway projects, the city is working hard to highlight its natural beauty with the mountains nearby and their naturally beautiful backdrop. Almaty, along with Astana, hosted the Asian winter games in 2011, and the infrastructure used for these games is worth seeing. By all accounts I got, the games were NOT run well. Whether or not the games were pulled off successfully is not something I'm familiar with. But the general speed and growth of Kazakhstan in general would lead an optimist to predict Olympic aspirations if Kazakhstan can clear up some of the problems it has with its international perception. Almaty is another fascinating place to visit. Almaty is one of the newest examples of a brand new world capital city, having been dreamed up and built in the late 1990s at the behest of Nazarbayev. This city has grown incredibly in 15 years. Astana is large, new, eclectic, and shows signs of personal direction. Astana had, in this author’s opinion, a feeling very similar to Las Vegas, and not for the reasons that might seem obvious. Both Las Vegas and Astana are fast growing, wealthy, and show a large degree of artificial eclecticism. Astana seems very eager to impose a personality for itself through extravagant construction projects. Without a historically derived personality to draw on, this city is in a rush to make its mark.
This reminded me a great deal of Las Vegas, with its bizarre and seemingly unlimited ability to finance striking buildings with bizarre and unconnected designs. Both cities have a high level of gloss and gilt, and both feel a little artificial. Kazakhstan is a country whose youth are being educated on what seems to be a good level. I encountered students who felt free to criticize the government and who seemed capable of administering the needs of a growing economy and government. Time will tell if the freedom I sensed from some will prove a reality. The greatest struggles I had in Kazakhstan came any time I had to deal with any kind of bureaucrat. The rigidity of their policies, their (seeming) inability to make decisions without direct supervisory approval, and what I sensed as a complete lack of interest in trying to help all reminded me of the stereotypically soviet method of administration. I was, in Kazakhstan, without anyone who was interested or empowered to assist me. This was a difference I felt from previous travels.