Asia & Oceania

Turkmenistan

Political journey

A Central Asian country of desert and huge gas reserves, Turkmenistan became independent in 1991 and was ruled by Saparmurat Niyazov, whose personality cult was extreme. Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow followed from 2006, and since 2022 his son Serdar has been president while the father heads the People’s Council. It is one of the world’s most closed states, with a declared permanent neutrality.

Turkmenistan today

The average of its current leaders on the ten Caucus dimensions. Open a profile to see each person’s scores.

💰EconomyStrongly state-led
State-ledFree market
⚖️Liberty and authorityStrongly authoritarian
LibertarianAuthoritarian
🎭CultureStrongly traditional
ProgressiveTraditional
🌍NationLeaning nationalist
GlobalistNationalist
🌱EnvironmentLeaning growth-first
Growth-firstNature-first
🤖TechnologySlightly tech-optimist
Tech-cautiousTech-optimist
🕊️War and peaceCentered on war and peace
Peace-firstStrength-first
🏛️InstitutionsLeaning institutional
Anti-establishmentInstitutional
🙏ReligionSlightly religious
SecularReligious
🛡️InterventionismLeaning non-interventionist
Non-interventionistInterventionist

Who leads Turkmenistan today

Portrait of Serdar Berdimuhamedow

Serdar Berdimuhamedow

President of Turkmenistan, 2022 to present

Succeeded his father in a 2022 election widely called a sham, in a power-sharing arrangement that keeps one of the world’s most closed states under family rule.

Serdar Berdimuhamedow sits in the left-authoritarian part of the Caucus economy and liberty compass: strongly state-led and strongly authoritarian. The clearest positions are strongly authoritarian on liberty and authority, strongly state-led on economy and strongly traditional on culture. The profile is close to the middle on war and peace.

Full profile of Serdar Berdimuhamedow →
Portrait of Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow

Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow

Chairman of the People’s Council of Turkmenistan, 2022 to present (President 2006 to 2022)

A former dentist who ruled Turkmenistan for 16 years with a personality cult before handing the presidency to his son, and who still holds power as head of the People’s Council.

Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow sits in the left-authoritarian part of the Caucus economy and liberty compass: strongly state-led and strongly authoritarian. The clearest positions are strongly authoritarian on liberty and authority, strongly state-led on economy and strongly traditional on culture. The profile is close to the middle on war and peace.

Full profile of Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow →

Political views closest to Turkmenistan’s leadership

CorporatismOrganizes society into industry and professional bodies that bargain with the state, an…92%Confucian meritocracyPrefers rule by educated, moral officials chosen by merit over competitive elections.88%State capitalismUses a strong state to steer a market economy toward rapid growth, often limiting…86%Economic nationalismUses tariffs, subsidies and industrial policy to protect and grow domestic industry.85%

Countries with similar leadership

Ranked by how close their current leaders are on the ten dimensions.

LaosAsia & Oceania96%Equatorial GuineaAfrica & Middle East96%TajikistanAsia & Oceania95%KuwaitAfrica & Middle East95%

Country histories are short summaries. Positions are simplified estimates of the leaders included in Caucus as of October 2026, and percentages show how close two profiles are across all ten dimensions.