Another anniversary of Kazakhstani independency is a reason to look back on the distance covered. In some ways it appeared to be extensively hard, and in another a blind Fortune hugged the republic so strong, that blindness had passed to it. Nevertheless, never ending despite various challenges, but country is continuing its way, choosing the most adequate and optimal routes.
"Urgent" is synonymous to "late", if not acting quickly. In roaring 90's the political top of Kazakhstan was forced to act urgently, because of relevant internal and external circumstances. Surprisingly, many decisions appeared to be strategically correct. Spontaneity is "doing best what is needed in certain situation, while not thinking on this".
People also sustained those difficult years stoically. New political format allowed surviving through socio-economical difficulties. If same things would happen in conditions of Soviet system, furious people disturbances couldn't be avoided in this business.
Then by wires, laid in 90's, current started to flow. Oil dollars started to drop into country, working places and salaries appeared, the government has settled arrears in pensions. Until 2004 Astana has been clearly winning over tricks of fortune, but then problems were started to grow up. Some people, having money and power, declined to share both in anybody's favor – this arose falsifications on parliament elections in 2004, murders of remarkable persons like Zamanbek Nurkadilov and Altynbek Sarsenbayev. In economics, everybody prayed on oil and actually stopped activities on its diversification. Big money made many players in both business and politics went mad.
Kazakhstan received independency in globalization era, which is different from any other by variety of typical attributes and features. From one side it is accelerated glide of historical time; like in a film showed in quick view. Another moment is increase of density of many various contacts, from economical and informational until cultural and interpersonal. Groups, which for hundreds of years didn't even suspect the existence of each other, started to interact against each other. Together with states, transnational companies, banks, terrorists, NGO became big international players. It appeared that Kazakhstan has been build its nationhood in an era, in which the importance of a state factor is decreasing.
By virtue of nomadic past, which is meaning a number of features in everything, Kazakhstan started to feel itself good on a crossroads of globalization. Presence of major part of modern country's territory in area of Great Steppe (region from plains of Hungary in the West to middle turn of Huang He in the East) and nomadic type of production have historically conditioned so, that migration and political processes here had more speed than in land farer to the East, North, West and South. For example, in modern Kazakhstan the share of external trade per person is higher than in Russia, despite it has no exit to seas and thus cut from the most massive trade flows. In Petropavlovsk, with population quarter to million, there are more currency exchanges than in Russian metropolis of Omsk, situated near it.
Openness is a necessary part of any country, which is reasonably including itself into global political, economical and cultural process. TH republic of Kazakhstan, with all its drawbacks, is happened as the opened country. There are no special borders to arrive or departure of people with business, tourist or personal purposes. It is equally concerning both country citizens and foreign people. To hear foreign speeches in major cities of the country is as natural as visiting a shop with good from all over the world.
Every event or feature has common origin. For Kazakhstan, the point of departure in political sphere was March of 1992, when it became fully legitimate member of UN. In economics sphere there are two phases – the October of 1993 and adoption of own currency tenge, and also 2001, when Caspian Pipeline Consortium started to work. Thanks to this project the republic can sell its oil in big volumes, beyond Russian pipeline system.
That's the way happened, that in social (including scientific and analytical parts) life of the Republic of Kazakhstan a dichotomy, when many things are refracted through "power against opposition", "black-white" format, took solid position. Perhaps only analyst Sabit Zhusupov, who is already passed, could state his independent position, avoiding pro-president or anti-president traps. Insurances of his neutrality were scientific approach, original methods and care for good of the country. He didn't fit Kazakhstan under his models, but rendered happening processes (both expected and desirable) into scientific and analytical product. Because analytics is a thing of appliance by its nature, called upon answering not only on question "who is guilty?" but "what to do?".
Redline of all his works, interviews and commentaries was the belief that the main wealth of the republic is its people, and since that investments into human capital and quality of life must be on the first place. Any permutations and reforms have to hold common person and his demands in development in its focus.
Sadly, common people didn't hit the focus of attention of state's care. It is enough to have a look on how $19 billion were spent by the government to struggle the crisis, and it will become clear that the power first of all is worried by problems of reach people. But the fact that all those billions were found in the country for a rainy day, made it not so rainy for common people too, which are granted by certain resources too; including the state's channels in form of programs such as Roadmap.
Kazakhstan was and is a part of post-Soviet space, and this one is completely new phenomena. There were never ever was such thing, and for that reason nobody knows about how things will be developing further. For example, never before such colossal material resources were redistributed, and at that the majority of people think all this was illegal. In addition, all of new states are unique, and with each year after USSR ending they becoming different from each other more and more, going by their own ways and with individual limitations of possibilities for each country. The Republic of Kazakhstan is going by that way too.
For years of independence Kazakhstan lost many illusions. We are speaking not only about the fact that reach and poor people have different things to care, but wider – about real arrangement of the world and human nature. The main moving force of activity of ones or other players is a struggle for resources, elimination or weakening of competitors, capturing a place under the sun. And it is not important who it is – geostrategists from Washington, manipulating with democratic bugaboos, or Mukhtar Shakhanov with speckled group of unwanted activists, which are covering its vested interests with caring about nation's good.
Today, taking all nuances, Kazakhstani agenda is similar in many ways to one, which was on the dawn of independency. We need adjusted and precise strategic decisions. Increase of work quality of state machine is required to decrease subtraction of people from bodies of governmental control. It is necessary to fight corruption. Worth reminding that reach and poor is different categories of people and their looks on life, household, value system and stereotypes of behavior is very different from each other.
The situation with ethnical conflicts and language contradictions cannot be leaved unattended, because ignorance of problems is even more aggravating it. To reckon upon external players (foreign governments, international parliament structures, transnational companies, NGO's, aliens) in improvement of Kazakhs life is useless. In best case they can help, but main work is necessary to do ourselves.
The article is contributed by Analytical-Informational Bureau PIK
