Latest Articles about Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan Raising Its Afghanistan Profile
On January 28 the United States announced plans to purchase a "significant part" of the goods needed to supply its forces in Afghanistan from Kazakhstan. U.S. Ambassador to Kazakhstan Richard Hoagland clarified these intentions in the context of the U.S.-Kazakh agreement on the transit of... MORE
Kazakh Opposition Criticizes Half-Hearted Democratic Reform Efforts
As Kazakhstan’s term of chairmanship of the Organization for Cooperation and Security in Europe (OSCE) draws near, state officials have intensified diplomatic maneuvering, constantly shuttling between Western capitals and Astana. Outwardly, Kazakhstan has made some impressive steps toward democratization of political processes to justify its... MORE
Kazakhstan’s Peacekeepers Penciled in for Afghanistan?
On January 14 Commander of United States Central Command (CENTCOM) General David Petraeus, visited Kazakhstan. Among the key senior Kazakh military officers he met with was Lieutenant-General Bolat Sembinov, the deputy defense minister responsible for cooperation with the West. Ostensibly they discussed progress in implementing... MORE
Kazakhstan Offers Military Airfield to NATO Forces in Afghanistan
Recently, members of the Kazakhstan Senate ratified two agreements allowing U.S. and NATO coalition forces to use Almaty airport as an emergency airfield for fighter planes flying on missions to Afghanistan. The news hardly produced any comments from government headquarters, but what leaked through the... MORE
Tension Mounts Between Tashkent and Astana as Uzbekistan Slams the EAEC Door
Uzbekistan’s recent decision to leave the Moscow-orchestrated Eurasian Economic Community (EAEC) hardly surprised anyone in the Kazakh Foreign Ministry who was familiar with Uzbek President Islom Karimov’s constantly changing attitudes toward political and economic structures within the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and his deep... MORE
KAZAKHSTAN WITHDRAWS TROOPS FROM IRAQ
The strategic seismic shockwave unleashed throughout the former Soviet Union by the August military confrontation between Georgia and Russia continues to reverberate throughout the Caucasus and Central Asia, as national leaders there reassess their relationships with Washington and Moscow. During the clash Azerbaijan, unable to... MORE
WESTERN INERTIA FUELS RUSSIAN DRIVE IN CENTRAL ASIA
On a visit to Astana on October 5, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced to the press in a conspicuously diplomatic tone that the United States had no intention of undermining Russian interests in Central Asia or drawing Kazakhstan into the American sphere of... MORE
KAZAKHSTAN AND RUSSIA PLAN AIR DEFENSE EXERCISE
Kazakhstan and Russia are in the final stages of planning large-scale training of their air defense forces. Shield-2008 will be held in western Kazakhstan as a joint air defense exercise, intended to deter “air raids and missile attacks” on either country. According to Abay Tasbulatov,... MORE
ARE KAZAKHSTAN’S ECONOMIC BONDS WITH GEORGIA THE PRICE OF STRONGER TIES WITH RUSSIA?
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev used the annual meeting of border regions of Kazakhstan and Russia in Aktobe (western Kazakhstan) on September 22 to confer with Kazak President Nursultan Nazarbayev, one of the Kremlin’s few remaining allies in its tense relations with the West. Both sides... MORE
NAZARBAYEV OFFERS MEDVEDEV SUPPORT
During a meeting with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Aktobe, Kazakhstan, on September 22, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev offered his support to Russia with regard to the conflict in Georgia. Security issues were discussed at the presidential level during the fifth international forum of the... MORE