The Concept of ‘Eurasia’: Kazakhstan's Eurasian Policy and its Implications

Abstract

The term Eurasia is a contentious and illusive one and there is no consensus or agreement among authors on its meanings, implications and ramifications. President Nursultan Nazarbayev of the Republic of Kazakhstan introduced and developed his own vision, policies, perceptions and values of Eurasianism which he has been propagating and practicing on a continuous and consistent basis. In fact, the concept of Eurasianism and Eurasian policies have turned into state ideologies which are reflected in domestic, regional and foreign policies as well as in the foundation of the recent regional integration process. The purpose of the article is: to study and review the genesis of the old, popular as well as contemporary schools and thoughts of Eurasianism, their underlying goals, objectives and purposes in order to locate and understand Kazakhstan's views and concepts of Eurasianism in a broad historical and comparative perspectives; to review and critically analyze how President Nazarbayev's visions and policies of Eurasianism are reflected in the country's domestic, regional and foreign policies and what are their implications.

Mapping Kazakhstan’s geopolitical code: an analysis of Nazarbayev’s presidential addresses, 1997–2014

“…The most important of these was the "geographical, geopolitical, and economic position of the country ... on the very crossroads in the Eurasian region." The concept of Kazakhstan as a Eurasian crossroads is well established in Nazarbayev's presidential addresses and has become a cornerstone of his overall nation-building project (Cummings 2003;Mostafa 2013). According to Nazarbayev, Kazakhstan's geographic situation is a major advantage that presents the country with the freedom from being restricted to one direction or another in its path of development.…”

Eurasian Economic Union: a challenge for EU policy towards Kazakhstan

“…The Nazarbayev doctrine of Eurasianism and vision of a future Eurasian Union was based on economic pragmatism, voluntary participation, the absence of ideology, equality and a consensus among all member countries (Mostafa 2013). It should be emphasised that Nazarbayev opted not for political but closer economic Eurasian integration on the basis of the free flow of goods, services, capital, labour force and-in future-coordinated tax and fiscal policies (Vinokurov 2010).…”

Eurasian Economic Union: A Regional Economic Hegemony Initiative

“…It is simply pragmatic." Mostafa (2013) argues that "Kazakhstan's Eurasian policy is designed to improve relations with Russia and other regional countries based on Eurasian solidarity, playing the role of a 'bridge www.ieeca.org/journalbetween Asia and Europe' and claiming as a bastion of peace, stability and neutrality." However, it can be argued that Russia has a more competitive economy together with immense reserve of natural sources and thus any common tariff policy might benefit only Russia rather than Kazakhstan.…”