Editor’s note: Twenty years ago the Berlin Wall fell, but long after its physical form was broken down, its spirit persists in Central Asia.  neweurasia’s Mirsulzhan highlights the continuities between the policies of today and those that led to the Wall’s collapse and shows how it is not only state control that diminishes the region’s potential, but the lingering Soviet mentality behind it.

Twenty years ago the Berlin Wall tumbled. As the symbol of the Iron Curtain that had separated an entire continent, the end of the Wall is often seen as something distinctly European.

But the Berlin Wall’s history is multifaceted and extends beyond Europe to encompass the entire former Soviet Union.  In particular, it bears lessons for today’s Central Asian republics, all of whom, in one way or another, are still continuing the very policies that led to its destruction.

A powerful state apparatus; the maximum limit on economic and political freedoms of citizens; violence, threats, and merciless punishment reigned in the territory of so-called German Democratic Republic.

There was resistance, of course — the now-famous graffiti was spray painted on the Western side of the wall while tunnels were dug underneath it, ranging in length from 30 to 200 meters.  Yet, only about 300 people ever managed to escape to the West, and many died in the attempt.

So, I think the BBC’s Brian Hanrahan speaks for all of us in the journalism community when, reflecting on the night the Wall fell, he writes,

For me it was that rare occasion when a story was unqualified good news.  After years watching the way communism was practised, I felt no need to mourn its collapse. Whatever came next had to be better.

Yet, when we look at the everyday realities of our lives here in Central Asia, not to mention North Korea or Cuba, it’s obvious that even if the Berlin Wall physically fell, it remains spiritually as strong as ever.  Here are three examples:

• Turkmenistan banned students from attending the American University of Central Asia in Bishkek.  According to neweurasia, attempts by the students to find out why were met with accusations of treason and threats of punishment.

• Uzbekistan has started erecting a concrete wall along the border with Kyrgyzstan. According to Johns Hopkins University’s Central Asia-Caucasus Institute, the wall will be five- to seven-meter tall, replete with a trench.  The decision to build the wall was done unilaterally by the Uzbek government under the pretext of combating extremism.

• Meanwhile, Uzbekistan has been erecting a cybernetic wall to keep out the internet for the last five years.  Although the cyber-wall is ostensibly to protect the morals of the Uzbek population, according to Ferghana.ru, in reality the target of prohibition has not been porn websites but mostly independent political and opposition mass media.

• A similar cybernetic wall is being erected in Kazakhstan with legislation of new internet regulations.  According to neweurasia, among other problematic things, the new regulations do not differentiate between readers who leave comments on blog posts and the original authors themselves.  This opens the door to direct control over the Kazakh blogosphere by authorities.

Image by Flickr user Bernt Rostad (CC-usage).

Several countries throughout the world have managed to minimize governmental paternalism, most notably the United States and Europe.  Their citizens are economically, politically, and mentally free.  It’s no surprise that they score first again and again in global rankings for productivity, creativity, and the sciences.

In contrast, too often it seems that the populations of Central Asia continue to lay about, waiting for a Stalin or Putin to lift them from their morass.  Their inertia testifies to a belief that prosperity and freedom must be things that happen to a society, not things to be worked toward.

The Berlin Wall of the mind is seductive: it promises security and certainty, but in exchange for real fulfillment.  The peoples of Central Asia must resist the temptation.  We must reject the myth that government control brings more benefits than the private initiatives of free men and women.  The future can be ours — if only we tear down that wall.