When Canada established diplomatic relations with Kazakhstan in 1992, Saskatchewan uranium giant Cameco Corp. arrived the same year to pursue ties with the resourcerich former Soviet state.
At a summer camp north of Moscow attended by youth vetted and groomed by Kremlin-sponsored organizations, Russian President Vladimir Putin was warmly welcomed when he visited recently, taking questions from campers, including one about Kazakhstan.
The devastating consequences of the Soviet Union's nuclear past are slowly being uncovered – particularly in Kazakhstan
A once-feared KGB general now sits on suicide watch in a Vienna jail, a tawdry end to terrible tale. His strange story—worthy of a thriller—is a case study of how the former KGB uses forged documents to influence Western reporters, diplomats and politicians.
Former British Prime Minister turned hired gunslinger Tony Blair is giving PR a bad name by finessing his lucrative relationship with the reprehensible ruler of Kazakhstan. He's too touchy about his work.
Tony Blair told the Nursultan Nazarbayev that the deaths of 14 protesters 'tragic though they were, should not obscure the enormous progress' his country had made
Kazakh Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Hungary Nurbakh Rustemov recently discussed Kazakhstan's relationship with that nation, focusing on reviving cultural and promoting economic ties. Hungary recently erected a monument to Kazakhstan's beloved intellectual, Abai, joining monuments in Moscow, Istanbul, Beijing, Tashkent, Tehran and other cities.
When the general American public thinks about Kazakhstan, Sacha Baron Cohen's "Borat" character probably comes to mind. But is Borat, at least in the figurative sense, dead? Organizations behind an effort to lure more investment to the Central Asian country think so. But Kazakhstan may have a grander regional strategy in mind beyond just attracting Western investment.
In Kazakhstan, doing your job can come at great personal cost – especially for those who openly question and criticize government authorities and leaders. In recent years, journalists, labor activists, lawyers, and opposition figures have all been targeted by authorities. I was reminded of this in the last few days, as a lawyer was involuntarily put into a psychiatric clinic (again) and a journalist was temporarily detained and roughed up by police in Almaty.
It may not make headlines that the EU and Kazakhstan are upgrading relations, in the form of an enhanced Partnership and Co-operation Agreement (PCA), even as a delegation of government officials prepares to depart for Brussels for the next round of negotiations, on 30 June and 1 July.
