On Friday, March 12, Professor Brianne Todd, CERES alumna and Assistant Professor of Central Asian Studies at the Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies (NESA) at the National Defense University, delivered a presentation over Zoom to the CERES community about Kazakhstan’s role as a theater of Great Power Conflict. The event, titled, “Kazakhstan as the Epicenter of Great Power Competition,” explored the strategic, political and economic incentives for the United States, Russia and China to increase ties with Kazakhstan and predicted the course of the latter’s relations with each great power. Though mainly focused on the Sino and Russo-American competition, Professor Todd also discussed the dynamics of a Sino-Russian contest for influence in Kazakhstan. At the presentation’s end, she fielded questions on these matters as well as others of interest. To watch the event in full, go to our Youtube Channel. Read a summary of the event below:
Per Professor Todd, the US’s relationship with Kazakhstan largely centers on security and economic interests, including counter-terror and capability building operations and development and liberalization programs. These efforts support Kazakhstan’s bid for more credible sovereignty and stability and could improve with the new administration’s return to cooperative diplomacy, but being a distant partner, American influence is relatively limited, and may suffer if its values-based doctrine is seen as inflexible. Meanwhile, Russia’s role in Kazakhstan is much more established, with the former seeing the state as its “sphere of privileged interest.” The two nations share extensive historical, cultural, linguistic, political and security ties, chief examples being the CSTO and Eurasian Economic Union. China has recently attempted to secure its interests through Kazakhstan as well, particularly containing the Uyghurs in Xinjiang and developing its Belt and Road trade corridors. The Chinese effort enjoys extensive political and economic capital, raising hard and soft power concerns for Russia about the loss of preeminence. These matters and others are discussed at greater length in the full video.