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Latest Articles about Kazakhstan
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Land Protests Testify to Kazakhstan’s Internal Vulnerability
Less than five years have passed since Kazakhstan experienced what may have been its most serious post-independence test of stability to date when, in December 2011, hundreds of people took to the streets in the western town of Zhanaozen, on the Caspian Sea. Clashes with... MORE
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Central Asia’s ‘Karabakhs’ May Be Even More Dangerous Than the Original
The renewed violence in Azerbaijan’s separatist region of Karabakh (see EDM, April 6) is attracting attention to three larger problems in other parts of the former Soviet space: the existence of ethnic exclaves in neighboring countries, the continuing failure of the states of the region... MORE
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Central Asian Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone: A Long Gestation (Part Two)
*To read Part One, please click here. Western nuclear powers have expressed objections regarding several provisions of the Central Asian Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone (CANWFZ) Treaty (US State Department, Treaties Data Base Home, CANWFZ Treaty, accessed April 5). The treaty, signed by Central Asia’s five countries, is... MORE
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Central Asian Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone: A Long Gestation (Part One)
Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev participated in the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, DC, on March 30–April 2, where he met with United States President Barack Obama (Kazinform, April 2). Kazakhstan has long been recognized as a global example on nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation. The country... MORE
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Kazakhstan Faces Militarization of the Caspian
In late February, Russian TV channel Zvezda, which is wholly owned by the Ministry of Defense, broadcast a video about a new type of assault boat that will be commissioned next year as part of Russia’s strategy to boost its coastal defense. The Murena-class fast... MORE
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Russian Nationalist Discourse Reemerges Ahead of Elections
Kazakhstan is taking final steps in preparation for the upcoming early parliamentary elections, scheduled for March 20. According to the Central Election Commission, as of March 4, the government has accommodated applications from 308 international observers and 116 media representatives. This year’s elections are widely... MORE
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Kazakhstan to Host Offshore Yuan Center
Many observers both inside and outside Central Asia have noticed China’s rising economic influence there, supplanting the region’s traditional hegemon, Russia. In yet another sign of China’s growing economic clout in Eurasia, Astana International Financial Center governor and former National Bank chairman Kairat Kelimbetov announced,... MORE
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Kazakhstan’s Delicate Balancing Act Between Turkey and Russia
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu visited Kazakhstan, on February 6, where he and his host government discussed bilateral cooperation on large-scale transit corridor projects (Akorda, February 6). As a “new Silk Road” of transportation infrastructure slowly emerges across Eurasia, Turkey and Kazakhstan are becoming important... MORE
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Looming Long-Term Economic Problems Stem From Kyrgyzstan’s EEU Membership
It has been half a year since Kyrgyzstan officially joined the Moscow-led Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) of Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus and Armenia. Its accession treaty took effect on August 12, 2015. That same day, Kazakhstan tore down customs controls on its border with the Kyrgyz... MORE
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Ethnic Russians Leaving Central Asia and With Them, Putin’s Hopes for Influence
Because Vladimir Putin has made the presence of ethnic Russians in other countries so central to his efforts to expand Moscow’s influence, their departure from any region or country means far more now than it did a decade ago. Nowhere has their exit been more... MORE