Latest Articles about Kazakhstan

KAZAKHSTAN TO CHAIR THE OSCE: SPLITTING THE RUSSIA-LED BLOC?

The OSCE’s year-end meeting in Madrid has resolved that Kazakhstan shall hold the organization’s Chairmanship in 2010. In 2008 already, Kazakhstan will host the annual session of the OSCE’s Parliamentary Assembly (a body that severely criticized the conduct of Russia’s December 2 parliamentary elections, see... MORE

RUSSIA HOPES TO ENTER CASPIAN MARKET WITH NEW KASHAGAN DEAL

In the covert “great game” currently playing out between Russia and the United States to control the hydrocarbon assets of the Caspian, a glittering new prize has appeared on the horizon. Kazakhstan’s massive offshore Kashagan oilfield is the world's largest discovery in the last 30... MORE

NAZARBAYEV ORDERS DEFENSE AND SECURITY REFORMS

Last week, Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev again called for the reform of the country’s defense and security structures. On November 15, he ordered the various heads of the defense and security bodies to prepare detailed proposals for restructuring their agencies, as part of the ongoing... MORE

KAZAKHSTAN ADJUSTS ITS RELATIONS WITH ARAB STATES

On November 5 Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev arrived in Damascus for a three-day visit. Both Nazarbayev and his Syrian counterpart, Bashar al-Assad, seemed satisfied with the talks, which covered investments, bilateral trade, and political ties. Beset by chronic economic and political troubles in the turbulent... MORE

A STEPPE TOO FAR: KAZAKHSTAN’S GANGLAND POWER

Officially, Kazakhstan’s Ministry of the Interior (MVD) claims to have crushed the power of organized crime in the country. This assertion appears partly supported by the considerable reduction in the number of gangland killings since the 1990s. Nevertheless, Karavan newspaper reported on November 2 not... MORE

KAZAKHSTAN MOVES FURTHER AWAY FROM RUSSIAN DOMINATION

Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao recently concluded a whirlwind tour of Central Asia following the sixth Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit, held in Tashkent on November 2. While there, Wen met with Kazakhstan’s Prime Minister Karim Masimov. While no details of the meeting emerged, Wen... MORE

NATO TREADS WARILY IN KAZAKHSTAN, AS RUSSIA WATCHES

Kazakhstan’s military cooperation with the NATO Alliance appears to be progressing steadily, despite the problems emerging between NATO and Russia. On October 31 Robert Simmons, NATO representative for Central Asia and South Caucasus, met Kazakhstan’s Defense Minister Daniyal Akhmetov in Astana. An official press release... MORE

KAZAKHSTAN’S OIL EXPORT PICTURE DETAILED

At last week’s energy summit of Baltic, Black Sea, and Caspian countries, hosted by Lithuania in Vilnius (see EDM, October 12), Kazakhstan’s Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Sauat Mynbayev provided a remarkably detailed picture of the country’s oil export policies, both ongoing and projected. Oil... MORE