CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2023
| Author | Satmurzin, Anuar |
|---|---|
| Title | Dealing With the Bear: How Kazakhstan's Multi-vector Policy Shaped its Relations with Russia |
| Summary | The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 left Kazakhstan “sandwiched” between two powerful regional actors, leaving Nazarbayev, Kazakhstan’s First President, with an opportunity to find a way to maintain friendly relations with everyone, not just Russia, without being reduced to a client state status. The long history of relations between Kazakhstan and Russia has largely defined the nature of their bilateral relations. Having unexpectedly obtained the status of an independent country Kazakhstan’s leaders built foreign policy as Kazakhstan’s multi-vector policy. Yet this policy remains understudied. This thesis, thus, seeks to answer the question: “how did Kazakhstan’s multi-vector policy shape its relations with Russia between 1991 and 2023?” To do so, this study uses qualitative description with process tracing elements and builds on the existing scholarly analysis, content analysis of government websites, and archival data from National Archives of the Republic of Kazakhstan. I identify three periods in Kazakhstan’s relations with Russia in accordance with Kazakhstan’s prevalent foreign policy choices, modes of behavior, and the character of relevant issues: 1991-1999, 2000-2013, and 2014-2023. |
| Supervisor | Schneider, Carsten |
| Department | Political Science MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2023/satmurzin_anuar.pdf |
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