Kazakhstan: warm up for the OSCE
For the last 3 years the Kazakh government has been declaring to its people that the country's assumption of the chair of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in 2010...
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On the eve of a Customs Union agreement between Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, Russian state television began an information war against Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko. By the ferocity of...
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Dreaming of the sea, or a holiday in Moynaq
Daniel Metcalfe's book ‘Out of Steppe’ describes his journey through Central Asia. In this excerpt he describes the Karakalpak landscape around the Aral Sea. The Soviet tourist destination, previously...
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Decapitated dogs and burning bureaus: the year Kazakhstan did democracy
Kazakhstan’s 2010 chairmanship of the OSCE has not passed without controversy. Reforms promised at the beginning of the year never happened, press harassment continues and things could get worse when...
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Central Asia: succession planning in dictatorships
Kyrgyzstan aside, recent elections in Central Asia would appear to indicate that the regions’ leaders are aiming to stay in power for life. But what will happen to their regimes when infirmity strikes,...
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Kazakhstan's Democracy Gap
Over its two decades of independence Kazakhstan has made enormous progress. Economic reforms, energy exploitation and interethnic harmony are major gains. Democratic reforms, however, lag behind....
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Getting by as a gastarbeiter in Kazakhstan
The stream of migrants from Central Asia seeking work in Russia is considerable, but racism and the migration laws there make them vulnerable to intimidation and exploitation. Many prefer to stay...
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Russia, EU and ECU: co-existence or rivalry?
The creation of the Eurasian Customs Union (ECU) could well enhance Russia’s position in the post-Soviet space at the expense of the EU. However, as the most important battleground,Ukraine would have...
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Change put on hold in Nazarbayev’s Kazakhstan
President Nazarbayev has been head of state in Kazakhstan for 23 years (before, and since, independence in 1991). The 2011 election effectively confirmed his life tenure, which has put the country into...
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Will Russia pivot East or West?
Russia-watchers have long been interested in her place on the international arena. Now, with China at the centre of the growing power game, the question is how Russia will seek to position herself in...
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Berlusconi’s l’amico Nursultan, and the Shalabayeva affair
Silvio Berlusconi has had lots of friends, or so he says – l’amico George (Bush), l’amico Tony (Blair), and now l’amico Nursultan (Nazarbayev) of Kazakhstan. The Shalabayeva affair has exposed the cost...
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Kazakhstan – the succession
President Nazarbayev has turned Kazakhstan into a Central Asian powerhouse. He is 73, and shows no sign of giving up the reins. But there are riches at stake, and people waiting in the wings.Kazakhstan...
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The importance of not being a 'stan'
What’s in a name? President Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan was apparently in earnest when he recently suggested changing the name of ‘his’ country. If he gets his way, the domestic and international...
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Kazakhstan and the EEU: the rise of Eurasian scepticism
As in Europe, scepticism towards regional integration is on the rise in Kazakhstan. And just like the Old Continent, Astana is learning to play this to its advantage… Troubles brewing for the EEUThese...
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Kazakh banking – devaluation, consolidation and bad loans
Kazakh banking is in a state of disarray, as banks assimilate the consequences of a recent 20% devaluation of the tenge. But there is also consolidation taking place, adding to the flux; and those bad...
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The galloping militarisation of Eurasia
In recent months, attention has overwhelmingly been focused on Moscow’s actions in Ukraine. But there is a wider and more disturbing process of militarisation underway throughout the Eurasian...
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The spillover effects of Western sanctions, in Kazakhstan
There is anxiety in Kazakhstan about the spillover effects of Western sanctions As the cycle of economic retaliation between Russia and the West seems to spiral ever more out of control, anxiety is...
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Concreting over the Silk Highway
The ‘Silk Highway’ will connect Western Europe with China, no matter what the locals think. Large infrastructure projects are often pushed through despite local concerns and grievances. This was...
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Making work easier for Kazakhstan’s migrant workers
Astana has introduced a new patent system for its guest workers, the ‘gastarbaitery.’ But does the new system work for Kazakhstan’s guest workers?Although Kazakhstan attracts an estimated 700,000 to...
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Is Central Asia afraid of ISIS?
The self-proclaimed ‘Islamic State’ has been seizing more and more territory in the Middle East, and now has its eyes on Central Asia. Several weeks ago ISIS (also known as ISIL and Islamic State)...
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