PONARS Eurasia
  • About
    • Contact
    • List of Members
  • Policy Memos
    • List of Policy Memos
  • Podcast
  • Online Academy
  • Events
    • Past Events
  • Recommended
Contacts
Address 1957 E St NW, Washington, DC 20052 adminponars@gwu.edu 202.994.5915
NEWSLETTER
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
Podcast
PONARS Eurasia
PONARS Eurasia
  • About
    • Contact
    • List of Members
  • Policy Memos
    • List of Policy Memos
  • Podcast
  • Online Academy
  • Events
    • Past Events
  • Recommended
DIGITAL RESOURCES
digital resources

Bookstore 📚

Knowledge Hub

Course Syllabi

Point & Counterpoint

Policy Perspectives

RECOMMENDED
  • In the Caucasus, There Is a Peace Agreement but Not Peace

    View
  • Russia’s Niche Soft Power: Sources, Targets and Channels of Influence

    View
  • A Weak Link in NATO? Bulgaria, Russia, and the Lure of Espionage

    View
  • Russia’s Weak Strongman: The Perilous Bargains That Keep Putin in Power

    View
  • Special Issue: Russia’s 2020 Constitutional Reform: The Politics of Institutionalizing the Status-Quo

    View
RSS PONARS Eurasia Podcast
  • How is the Russian Government Coping with Rising Food Prices? [Lipman Series 2021] March 15, 2021
    In this week's PONARS Eurasia Podcast, Maria Lipman chats with Anton Tabakh about rising food prices in Russia, and what they might mean for Russia's current and future stability.
  • The Communist Party of the Russian Federation: More Than Just Systemic Opposition? [Lipman Series 2021] March 5, 2021
    In this week's episode of the PONARS Eurasia Podcast, Maria Lipman chats with Felix Light and Nikolay Petrov about the contemporary Communist Party of the Russian Federation, including the divisions between its leadership and membership, its attitude toward Alexei Navalny, and why it might be more than just "systemic" opposition after all.
  • Internet Resources: Civic Communication and State Surveillance [Lipman Series 2021] February 16, 2021
    In this week's PONARS Eurasia Podcast, Maria Lipman chats with Andrei Soldatov and Tanya Lokot about the role of the internet in contemporary Russian politics, including both as a tool of the Russian opposition and as an instrument of the increasingly repressive Russian regime.
  • The Rise of Alexei Navalny's Political Stature and Mass Protest in Russia [Lipman Series 2021] February 1, 2021
    In the first PONARS Eurasia Podcast of 2021, Maria Lipman chats with Greg Yudin about the current protests taking place in Russia, and what Alexei Navalny's growing popular support means for the Putin regime.
  • Russian Social Policy in the COVID-19 Era [Lipman Series 2020] December 21, 2020
    In 2020’s final episode of the PONARS Eurasia Podcast, Maria Lipman chats with Sarah Wilson Sokhey and Ella Paneyakh to discuss Russian social policy in the COVID-19 era, and public perception of Russia’s overall pandemic response.
  • Conscious Parenting Practices in Contemporary Russia [Lipman Series 2020] December 10, 2020
    In this week's episode of the PONARS Eurasia Podcast, Maria Lipman chats with Julia Yuzbasheva and Maria Danilova to learn more about the proliferation of "conscious parenting" practices in contemporary Russian society.
  • The Transformation of Belarussian Society [Lipman Series 2020] November 11, 2020
    In this episode of the PONARS Eurasia Podcast, Masha Lipman chats with Grigory Ioffe about the long-term and short-term factors that led up to the current protests in Belarus, and the ongoing transformation of Belarussian society.
  • Russian Lawmakers Adjust National Legislation to the Revised Constitutional Framework [Lipman Series 2020] October 26, 2020
    In this week’s PONARS Eurasia Podcast, Maria Lipman chats with Ben Noble and Nikolay Petrov about ongoing changes to Russia’s national legislation based on the recently revised constitutional framework, and what these changes portend for the 2021 Duma election.
  • Russia's Regional Elections [Lipman Series 2020] September 25, 2020
    In this week’s PONARS Eurasia Podcast, Maria Lipman chats with Graeme Robertson and Konstantin Gaaze about Russia’s September 13 regional elections and whether or not the Kremlin should be worried about upcoming Duma elections.
  • Understanding the Protests in Belarus [Lipman Series 2020] September 11, 2020
    In this week's PONARS Eurasia Podcast, Maria Lipman chats with Natalya Chernyshova (University of Winchester) and Nikolay Petrov (Chatham House) about the ongoing protests in Belarus, and what they mean for the future of the current regime.
  • Commentary | Комментарии

A Europe-Friendly Kazakhstan

  • February 4, 2013
  • Andrey Makarychev

In spite of geography, Kazakhstan is eager to be the most Western-oriented member of the Eurasian Union. This was the key message that Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan Yerlan Idrissov implicitly addressed to the German political audience at the DGAP think tank in Berlin/

Idrissov explained how important the recent chairmanship of the OCSE was for his country’s thinking about security issues. Kazakhstan’s concept of Eurasian security is grounded in two major principles: neither great games, nor zero-sum games. Paradoxically, both make Kazakhstan politically closer to Berlin and Brussels than to Moscow or Minsk. (I can imagine that a Russian Foreign Minister’s speech in any European capital would be far more conflictual than Idrissov’s.)

Kazakhstani diplomacy does seem to understand that the Eurasian integration project has to be counter-balanced by a demonstration of even more openness to the West. Germany is of special importance here. One example of Kazakhstan’s soft power diplomacy is the establishment of the Eurasian Club in Berlin, which is meant to be a communicative playground for discussions on East–West relations and prospects for integration among the EU’s eastern neighbors.

Kazakhstan's integration strategy is explicitly about economics and finance. In Idrisov's words, he had never heard Russia’s Vladimir Putin wishing to transform the Customs Union into a political organization (though many Germans would disagree).

“We are interested in economic integration [common market, free movement of capital, etc.], and only after that one can think of other options,” Idrissov said.

He was eloquent in explaining to the Germans that Kazakhstan is a (relatively) liberal country. Answerng to the question about the opposition, he mainly focused on the case of Mukhtar Abliazov who, as he claimed, “has stolen lots of money, left the country, hired very good lawyers, and launched an information war against us. We regard all this as a special operation designed against the government, and react correspondingly. This is not an authentic opposition.” Perhaps, not many in the audience had even heard about Abliazov, but the Foreign Minister talked no less than five minutes about him.

“Don't expect a Jeffersonian democracy in Kazakhstan in the forthcoming future,” Idrisov remarked in conclusion. Perhaps, this was a redundant reminder, seeing that the German foreign policy community is pragmatic enough to accept Kazakhstan as a non-democratic but friendly country with huge business opportunities.

Andrey Makarychev is a Guest Professor at the Free University of Berlin, blogging for PONARS Eurasia on the Russia-EU neighborhood.

Andrey Makarychev
Andrey Makarychev
Website | + posts
Visiting Professor, Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies
Affiliation

University of Tartu, Estonia
Links

Johan Skytte Institute (Bio), "PONARS as a Transnational Epistemic Community: An Insider's View" (2010 article)
Expertise

Russian Foreign and Security Policies, EU-Russian Relations, Issues of Regionalism and Federalism
  • Andrey Makarychev
    https://www.ponarseurasia.org/members/andrey-makarychev/
    The Minsk–Khabarovsk nexus: Ethical, performative, corporeal
  • Andrey Makarychev
    https://www.ponarseurasia.org/members/andrey-makarychev/
    Twigg: I worry about whether or not people are going to be willing to take Sputnik V in Russia
  • Andrey Makarychev
    https://www.ponarseurasia.org/members/andrey-makarychev/
    Culture as an Instrument
  • Andrey Makarychev
    https://www.ponarseurasia.org/members/andrey-makarychev/
    The Coronavirus and the Future of Liberalism
Related Topics
  • Makarychev
Previous Article
  • Recommended | Рекомендуем

The Making of Chechen Terrorists: The Clash of Forces and Discourses (Audio)

  • February 4, 2013
  • Georgi Derluguian
View
Next Article
  • Recommended | Рекомендуем

Russia, Syria and the Doctrine of Intervention

  • February 6, 2013
  • Samuel Charap
View
You May Also Like
View
  • Commentary | Комментарии

Путин и Лукашенко

  • Konstantin Sonin
  • August 29, 2020
View
  • Commentary | Комментарии

Отравление оппозиционеров в России превратилось в регулярную практику

  • Vladimir Gelman
  • August 22, 2020
View
  • Commentary | Комментарии

Авторитарные режимы не вечны: О ситуации в Белоруссии

  • Vladimir Gelman
  • August 14, 2020
View
  • Commentary | Комментарии

В Беларуси пока что все идет по российскому сценарию

  • Olexiy Haran
  • August 12, 2020
View
  • Commentary | Комментарии

Опасная игра Лукашенко

  • Pavel Baev
  • August 11, 2020
View
  • Commentary | Комментарии

Власть справилась

  • Sergei Medvedev
  • August 10, 2020
View
  • Commentary | Комментарии

Непереломный момент: Смена Конституции

  • Konstantin Sonin
  • August 6, 2020
View
  • Commentary | Комментарии

Кейс Фургала и три мифа режима

  • Kirill Rogov
  • August 5, 2020

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

PONARS Eurasia
  • About
  • Membership
  • Policy Memos
  • Recommended
  • Events

Permissions & Citation Guidelines

Input your search keywords and press Enter.