Soft power as a threat to a hard power
2012 was fruitful for Russian legislators and painful for the NGOs. That year marked the series of laws threatening the fragile civil society in...
Kazakhstan & WTO: End of an Odyssey or New Leap Forward?
Kazakhstan applied to join the World Trade Organization (WTO) in January of 1996. Twenty long years later (July 27, 2015), President Nazarbayev signed the...
The Rebirth of the Patriarch of Moscow
The Orthodox Church and the Christian tradition have always assumed a role of primary importance in Russian history and tradition. The...
Kazakhstan: United Nations Security Council 2017-2018
Kazakhstan, in an attempt to build its reputation as mediator and the leading country in Central Asia, is seeking a position on the 15-member...
“Pyrrhic Sovereignty” – The Treasure of the Tengiz
History does not repeat itself, but it often rhymes - or so goes the adage. This is at play in the Caspian today as...
Russian Nemesis? Cold War Pathologies and Analytical Afflictions
There have been numerous articles on the authoritarian strengthening of power in Russia and Putin’s backsliding from democracy throughout the 2000s. Russian positions and...
Russian Victim? Repositioning Strategies and Regional Dreams of Dominance
As a new wave of non-Western countries strive to elevate their profiles and expand their global influence, Russia is taking steps to help secure...
Can Kazakhstan prove Huntington wrong?
Geography and politics undoubtedly conditioned Kazakhstan as a country. It is home to 140 ethnic groups and 17 religions in the intersection of different...
The Foundation of Central Asia: Kazakhstan’s Journey from Past to Future
Of the five Central Asian states – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan – Kazakhstan was the last Soviet Republic to leave the USSR....
The Trans-Caspian Pipeline: Geopolitics Near and Abroad
Russia’s energy control appears to be soon coming to a halt as Caspian members, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan, plan on gaining control over vital areas...