Succession Fears Loom in Kazakhstan

AKTAU, Kazakhstan -- Last week, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev traveled to Germany for the signing of $4 billion worth of economic agreements, exchanging access to Kazakhstan’s stores of rare earths and raw minerals for German technological expertise. Appearing alongside German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Nazarbayev struck a confident figure in deflecting criticisms of the country’s democratic performance. After two decades of independence, Kazakhstan appears to have won its place on the world stage.

Going solely by the numbers, Nazarbayev has reason to be confident. Once considered yet another impoverished Central Asian post-Soviet republic, Kazakhstan’s per capita GDP now stands at more than $13,000. Parts of Almaty, the former capital and still the country’s cultural heart, more closely resemble Vienna than nearby Bishkek, both in the quality of services and the prices found there. Building off vast reserves of oil, natural gas, coal and minerals, Kazakhstan has distanced itself from the rest of Central Asia by being more open to investment than Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan and more functional than impoverished Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.   ...