On October 9 and 10, Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev paid an official visit to Moscow to celebrate 20 years of good-neighborly relations with its northern neighbor. Russia’s leader, Vladimir Putin, had recently visited Kazakhstan earlier in mid-September. The majority of issues discussed during the bilateral... MORE

Kazakhstan has hosted the first Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) peacekeeping exercise on October 8–17, as the organization positions itself to play a more active role in defense and security among its members. The size of the forces, scenario for the exercise, as well as... MORE

The Nazarbayev Center was created in January 2012 to study and promote Kazakhstan’s history of statehood—its cultural, economic, humanitarian, and political development (Interfax-Kazakhstan, January 23). The Center includes an in-house think tank that conducts research, a library with 600,000 books and other items, and a... MORE

Kazakhstan has recently participated in international military exercises with its NATO partners as well as through the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) in what at first sight appears to confirm that its multi-vector foreign policy also strongly influences its defense and security policy. Nonetheless, the... MORE

On September 28, Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev appointed Erlan Idrissov, who had served as ambassador to Washington for five years, as the country’s new foreign minister. Idrissov, 53 and a fluent English-speaker, had previously served as foreign minister between 1999 and 2002, before serving consecutive... MORE

On October 2 and 3, Kazakhstan’s capital hosted an annual gathering of the Kazenergy Association, which is comprised of 50 of the biggest players in the oil and gas sectors as well as the non-hydrocarbon sector, including foreign and domestic companies. The association was created... MORE

On September 13, the South Korean President Lee Myung-bak paid an official visit to Kazakhstan. It was his seventh visit to this Central Asian republic during the last four years. The last time South Korea’s leader met with his Kazakh counterpart Nursultan Nazarbayev was in... MORE

The recent cabinet reshuffle in Kazakhstan clearly reflects President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s emphasis on social and employment programs and economic development, which he outlined in a program article published in July (https://kazworld.info/?p=22739, July 12). Following the departure of Karim Massimov, as the country’s longest serving prime... MORE

Russian and Kazakhstani leaders have reiterated plans to further develop bilateral commerce, relying on the free trade arrangements of their Customs Union. Two-way trade, however, has appeared to advance slower than previously expected. Attended by presidents Nursultan Nazarbayev and Vladimir Putin, the Inter-Regional Cooperation Forum,... MORE

The first autumn winds in Kazakhstan’s capital brought with them a major cabinet reshuffle that promoted popular, effective Prime Minister Karim Massimov to head the preeminent presidential administration and moved First Deputy Prime Minister Serik Akhmetov to the premier spot. President Nursultan Nazarbayev confirmed both... MORE