From my short stay in Kyrgyzstan, I recall that everytime we had to divert an aircraft to Kazahkstan, it created a big stink. They did not like US Military aircraft in their country at all. Don't know if that alluded to an Anti-American bias though.
I do know that organized crime in that region is a HUGE problem, and we "dumb" americans are easy targets. I got to visit downtown Bishkek once while I was there, and we spent several hours in briefings before on area's to avoid, things to watch for, stuff like that. None of this was regarding terrorism, it was all about the organized crime elements.
Other then that, the area seemed pretty "modern". Atleast in Bishkek (capitol of Kyrgyzstan) women seemed to have a pretty equal footing to men. They definitely didn't have much care about decency with the clothes they wore (and when you've been confined to a base for 4 months with nothing but women wearing sweats or DCU's to look at, this was awesome).
I'd say the biggest thing that stuck out to me about their society, was that they missed the Soviet Union. I didn't nearly get to know the culture well enough to know all the reasons why, but everywhere you looked, you saw remnants of the USSR. The national museum had about 3/4 of it devoted to the time the country spent as a Soviet satellite. When you went to the mall, the majority of the stores sold souveneirs from the USSR. Our guide said that a lot of the people felt a nostalgia for the time that they where part of a global power, instead of a podunk country that most of the world had never heard of.
Going to Kazahkstan will probably be a rewarding experience for this couple. As long as they do their research first, and they remain mindful that they are no longer in the US, and that things are not the same.
