Historically, the United States has had a difficult time currying favor with Central Asian countries for political, religious, and cultural reasons. However, since 2001, events like the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and the crumbling roadmap in the Middle East have highlighted the need for the United States to establish both trust and mutual cooperation with countries in regions where its interests have traditionally been blocked. In order to break this problem into manageable policy areas, the United States should focus on developing alliances with already friendly states in Central Asia. One such state is Kazakhstan, whose independence was recognized by the United States soon after its declaration in 1991. Given the potential strategic and economic benefits of an alliance, the United States should continue to invest energy and resources to develop Kazakhstan and secure a viable US presence in the region.

Kazakhstan is the fastest developing nation in Central Asia. Its Economy and Budget Planning Minister, Kairat Kelimbetov, predicts that by 2015 it could be one of the world’s top five oil producers, thanks in part to foreign investment and international trade that reached US$16.1 million in 2002. Moreover, the United States has become more involved in the Kazakh economy in recent years. Between 1992 and 2001, the United States gave US$874.3 million in technical assistance and investment support to Kazakhstan. In 1999, the United States passed the Silk Road Strategy Act, which emphasized the importance of political and economic independence for South Caucasus and Central Asian nations through policies that focus on regional stability, democracy, and human rights. The United States gave more evidence of its support for Kazakhstan in 2002 by holding a major joint conference on trade and investment that produced many bilateral initiatives to increase investment opportunities between the two countries. The US Pentagon even helped Kazakhstan build its first military base at the port of Atyrau on the Caspian Sea. In 2002, US Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham stressed US interests in Kazakh resources, calling Kazakhstan a “key partner” in the US National Energy Plan. Additionally, there are ongoing, US-funded projects to develop Kazakhstan’s natural oil resources through the construction of pipelines and other infrastructure.

Yet recent events have begun to show a cooling in US-Kazakh relations. Kazakhstan supported the war in Iraq, but is now in favor of a stronger UN presence in the region. Also, Kazakhstan’s new international presence has allowed it to rely on oil transit itineraries towards Russia, China, and the Mediterranean instead of on US support. In 2001, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) was founded by China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan to fight “terrorism, separatism, and extremism.” The SCO has since become a way for China and Russia to take back control of the region. As mutual cooperation and interdependence grows exclusively between SCO member nations, China aims to make new US military bases and the protection they promise in the Central Asian region irrelevant. Heightened Chinese and Russian interest in countries like Kazakhstan has also had the net result of discouraging close relationships with the United States. Governments seek to court South Caucasus regions away from the West, knowing that they lack both the military and financial power to go head to head with the United States.

Human rights issues also hinder the diplomatic progress. In 2002, opposition journalist Sergei Duvanov was arrested just before he was to fly to the United States to discuss the human rights situation in Kazakhstan; he has recently been imprisoned by the Kazakh Supreme Court. The Deputy Head of the US Mission to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Douglas Davidson, expressed concern over the event and called it “a setback for the development of a Kazakh judicial system,” a body which has continued to develop since Kazakhstan gained independence in the early 1990s. Despite US pressure, there is virtually no prospect for Kazakh democracy in the near future. This disturbs neither China, since it prevents growing US democratic influence in the South Caucus, nor Russia, since it lessens the presence of rich US-based oil firms whose deep pockets take Russian companies out of the running for contracts in their region.

Nevertheless, Kazakhstan has demonstrated itself as a trustworthy and strategic partner in the larger US battle against weapons proliferation and terrorism. It is one of only five parties in the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, as well as the first nation to officially and voluntarily renounce its nuclear-weapons status. The 1993 United States-Kazakhstan Cooperative Threat Reduction Agreement pledged support for further cooperation in preventing illicit weapons trade in the region. The agreement also recognized that the development of free market economies and lawful societies protects and advances the stability of society. As an example of the potential of US influence in a troubled region, it behooves the United States to turn its attention back to Kazakhstan to demonstrate that US foreign policy can be used effectively to ensure security in various states.

In this light, the necessity of US action is clear. The internal development of Kazakhstan has made it an undeniably important player in both the regional and global economy. If the United States hopes to remain a dominant figure in this region, both in furthering its own interests in oil, leadership, and influence, as well as maintaining a viable military presence in Central Asia, it would do well to foster stronger ties with Kazakhstan.