Reformer Lobbies Washington for Change in Policy Toward Kazakhstan

Reformer Lobbies Washington for Change in Policy Toward Kazakhstan

WASHINGTON -- "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan" may have prompted Americans to run and find Kazakhstan on a map. But another recent development appears to have a growing number of Washington insiders talking seriously about political discord in the massive former Soviet republic.

A rising young Kazakh politician visited Washington recently trying drum up support from U.S. policy makers and journalists for his newly established and reform-minded Kazakh political party -- the official registration of which he claims is being obstructed by his country's "draconian law on political parties."

The second largest of the former Soviet republics, oil-rich Kazakhstan is situated on a vast tract between China and Russia. Aside from cozy relations between U.S. President George W. Bush and Nursultan Nazarbayev, the country's president since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 -- prior to which he served as the First Secretary of the Kazakh Communist Party -- Kazakhstan rarely makes news in the West.

Keep reading for free!

Get instant access to the rest of this article by submitting your email address below. You'll also get access to three articles of your choice each month and our free newsletter:

Or, Subscribe now to get full access.

Already a subscriber? Log in here .

What you’ll get with an All-Access subscription to World Politics Review:

A WPR subscription is like no other resource — it’s like having a personal curator and expert analyst of global affairs news. Subscribe now, and you’ll get:

  • Immediate and instant access to the full searchable library of tens of thousands of articles.
  • Daily articles with original analysis, written by leading topic experts, delivered to you every weekday.
  • Regular in-depth articles with deep dives into important issues and countries.
  • The Daily Review email, with our take on the day’s most important news, the latest WPR analysis, what’s on our radar, and more.
  • The Weekly Review email, with quick summaries of the week’s most important coverage, and what’s to come.
  • Completely ad-free reading.

And all of this is available to you when you subscribe today.

More World Politics Review