INFLUENCE OF THE WORLD CENTERS OF POWER ON KAZAKHSTAN AND NEW GEOPOLITICAL TRENDS IN CENTRAL ASIA
Abstract
The republic is a natural geopolitical core of Central Asia, therefore the game the world centers of power are playing around Kazakhstan is very important for Central Asian politics. This is especially true in a situation where the number of challenges to regional stability is growing, and the threats are becoming increasingly dangerous.
Kazakhstan is located deep inside Eurasia; it is a large state (five times larger than France and four times the size of Ukraine); it is ninth in the world in terms of size (2,724,900 sq km). with the largest territorial production complexes found along its frontiers; the country is fairly vulnerable.
Conventionally speaking, described in geographic, economic, and climatic terms, the geopolitical heartland of the Republic of Kazakhstan, a purely continental country, can be identified as a triangle: Almaty-Semipalatinsk-Aktiubinsk. Its eastern flank touches on the geographic center of Eurasia (the 78th meridian and 50th parallel); it includes vast expanses of hummocky topography (Sary Arka), parts of the Turgay Plateau, and the Turgay Lowland. The heartland is economically undeveloped, its poor transport and information infrastructure being hugely overloaded. The central geopolitical space of the Republic of Kazakhstan faces serious environmental problems, while its natural and climatic conditions are adverse. The heartland is depopulated: with an average population density of 5.8 people per 1 sq km across the country, there are 0.3-0.5 people per 1 sq km in the country’s center.1
Objectively, the North and the South, divided by the depopulated geopolitical Center, might move apart as they are attracted by stronger neighbors. The “void” of the heartland interfered with state development as such, and stimulated regional separatism among the local elites that belong to different tribal unions and pursue different foreign economic aims. Most of the Kazakhs of the Elder Zhuz are closely connected with Uzbekistan (with the South in the wider sense); the Middle Zhuz with Russia and partly (the Naymans and Kereis) with China. The Younger Zhuz looks at Russia yet wants more independence than the other Kazakh alliances.
When it comes to international preferences, the Kazakhstani elite is clearly (albeit convention-ally) divided into the “pragmatists” and the “idealists.” The first group includes nearly all top bureaucrats and clan leaders; the second consists of the absolute minority either from the opposition or petty civil servants. The “pragmatists” are lobbyists and/or partners of large foreign economic structures working in Kazakhstan and leaders of practically all the elite groups. They are guided by fairly primitive common sense: we should cooperate with the countries present on the Kazakhstani market; as soon as they leave, we turn to other companies and, consequently, to other centers of power. This is how most of the top local bureaucrats and leaders of the largest clans think.
Downloads
References
See: Sob.inf. “Za poslednie piat’ let iz Kazakhstana vyekhalo 1 mln 652,7 tys. chelovek,” Karavan, 13 March,1998.
See: M. Adilov, “Perekhodit’ li ‘rubikon’… Revolutsia v Kyrgyzstane snova postavila kazakhstanskuiu vlast’ i oppozitsiiu pered vyborom,” Respublika, 1 April, 2005.
“Kongress SShA podderzhivaet Zakon o demokratii v Tsentral’noy Azii,” RIA Novosti , 5 March, 2006.
See: A. Asrorov, “Vozvrashchenie bludnogo syna. Kak Uzbekistan ‘vstroitsia’ v EvrAsES,” Gazeta.kz., 3 March,2006.
P. Sviatenkov, “Kazakhstan sdelaiut liderom,” APN-Kazakhstan, 7 November, 2005.
See: A. Grozin, “Novaia strategia SShA v Tsentral’noy Azii,” RIA Novosti, 24 March, 2006.
See: R. Streshnev, “Na novyi uroven’ integratsii,” Krasnaia zvezda, 21 April, 2004.
See: “Itogi sotsial’no-ekonomicheskogo razvitia Respubliki Kazakhstan za 2003 god i zadachi na 2004 god”
www.minplan.kz].
See: R. Streshnev, op. cit.
See: Nezavisimaia gazeta, 29 September, 2003.
M. Chernov, “Kazakhstan tianetsia k Rossii, pered litsom amerikanskoy ekspansii v Sredney Azii Astana vynuzh-dena poyti na sblizhenie s Moskvoy,” RBC daily, 21 April, 2004.
See: Michael Hall: “Uzbekistan is Experiencing Calm Before the Storm,” EurasiaNet.org, 2 March, 2006.
See: R. Ushakov, “Amerike nuzhen Kazakhstan,” Liter, 30 December, 2005.
See: R. Streshnev, op. cit.
See: Iu. Zolina, “Urana—zavalis’,” Ekspress-K, 6 April, 2004.
See: A. Matveev, “Kontaktam voennykh vedomstv Rossii i Kazakhstana net al’ternativy,” Voenno-promyshlennyi kur’er, No. 45, 30 November-6 December, 2005.
See: T. Koroleva, “Kazakhstan i Rossia narashchivaiut voennoe sotrudnichestvo,” Panorama, No. 46, November 2002.
See: R. Streshnev, op. cit.
See: O. Petrova, A. Klimonov, “‘Airanguli’ dlia kitaytsa. Obratnaia storona inostrannykh investitsiy,” Respubli-ka, 19 November, 2004.
See: M. Auezov, “Boytes’ kitaytsev, v Khorgos prikhodiashchikh. Zakhlestnuvshiy nash rynok potok kitayskikh tovarov zastavliaet vser’ioz zadumat’sia ob ekspansii,” Respublika, 12 November, 2004.
See: O. Zhylkybaev, “Kitayskiy aysberg,” Kazakhstanskaia pravda, 10 November, 2004.
Panorama, No. 35, August 2000.
See: Polis, No. 6, 1992, p. 30.
See: Azia-kur’er, 24 October, 1994.
Panorama, No. 45, November 1994.
V. Gel’bras, “Rossia i Kitay: voprosy sobirania geoekonomicheskikh prostranstv,” Polis, No. 6, 1995, pp. 44-45.
See: N. Mustafaev, “Kitayskie immigranty v Kazakhstane: mify i real’nost,” API, 22 July, 2002.
See: Kitayskie etnicheskie gruppy v stranakh Iugo-Vostochnoy Azii, Moscow, 1986, p. 75.
See: O. Zhylkybaev, op. cit.
See: N. Mustafaev, op. cit.
O. Kviatkovskiy, “…I linia granitsy—kak linia sud’by,” Karavan, 3 May, 1996.
See: B. Antsiferov, “‘Druzhba’—druzhboy, a chto v budushchem?” Gazeta.kz, 24 September, 2003.
Ibidem.
See: O. Sidorov, “Neftianye interesy Kitaia v Tsentral’noy Azii,” Gazeta.kz, 16 October, 2003.
M. Auezov, “Kitaisko-kazakhstanskie otnoshenia,” Vremia po, 30 April, 1999.
M. Auezov, “Boytes’ kitaytsev…”
K. Kosachev, “ShOS kak al’ternativa amerikanskomu vliianiu v Tsentral’noy Azii,” Dipkur’er-NG, 29 September,2003.
See: T. Stanovaia, “Iz ShOS v ODKB pereletaia,” Politkom.Ru, 21 June, 2004.
See: E. Karin, “ShOS i ee znachenie dlia Tsentral’noy Azii. Gosudarstva TsA posle 11 sentiabria,” Assandi Times,
June, 2004.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2006 AUTHOR
![Creative Commons License](http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by/4.0/88x31.png)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
You are free to:
- Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format for any purpose, even commercially.
- Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.
- The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.
Under the following terms:
- Attribution — You must give appropriate credit , provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made . You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
- No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
Notices:
You do not have to comply with the license for elements of the material in the public domain or where your use is permitted by an applicable exception or limitation .
No warranties are given. The license may not give you all of the permissions necessary for your intended use. For example, other rights such as publicity, privacy, or moral rights may limit how you use the material.