Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
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Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has upended geopolitics in Central Asia, but perhaps nowhere more than in Kazakhstan, where President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has been increasingly emboldened in managing ties with Moscow.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, the red lines in its relationship with Russia have been unclear for Kazakhstan. If earlier Kazakhstan holding military drills with NATO would not have angered Russia, now Moscow sees itself as being at war with the West and may act much more aggressively.
What kind of country would Kazakhstan or Ukraine be if, back then, they had tried to push their way into the nuclear club?
Above all, what made this unique and sensitive operation possible was the fundamental trust between the governments of Kazakhstan and the United States. With only a couple of years’ worth of diplomatic relations, the two countries dealt with serious political, technical, security, and logistical challenges.
Despite close economic ties with Russia, not a single Central Asian country has endorsed President Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine.
In the late 1950s, despite facing high personal risks, a group of doctors from Kazakhstan’s Institute of Regional Pathology carried out a large-scale medical expedition to the villages near the Soviet nuclear testing site in the Semipalatinsk region.
One of the greatest achievements of U.S. foreign policy has been targeted by a vicious disinformation campaign.
A tragic house fire that killed five sisters in Astana epitomizes many of Kazakhstan’s social problems, as well as the widening gap between the government and the governed.
Brighter prospects for Central Asian integration come amid political and economic liberalization in Uzbekistan, hardening authoritarianism elsewhere in the region, widespread economic distress, and China’s growing influence—the five major trends that marked Central Asia in 2018.
The five states of Central Asia — Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan — mark 27 years of independence in 2018.