... Economics and Politics at the Foundation of the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, noted that the “Silk Road Economic Belt” project is able to give new momentum to the development of integration processes that takes place between Russia and Kazakhstan within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union. “
It is important that today the “Silk Road Economic Belt” project undergoes discussion at such a serious expert level. And we are glad this dialogue was started here, in ...
... aspect of the problem. Russian policy in the post-Soviet space, which after 2008 has increasingly promoted the issue of protecting compatriots “
wherever they may be
”, cannot but fuel phobias and speculation, especially in countries where Russian-speaking minorities live in compact settlements. Kazakhstan offers the most vivid example of the latter, as the share of the Slavic population in its northern regions of Akmola, Pavlodar, Kostanai and Northern Kazakhstan varies from 38 to 48 per cent. President Nursultan Nazarbayev has spared no effort ...
... Central Asian states also face subjective difficulties (see Tables 1, 2). These are largely due to Iran’s international isolation and excessive bureaucracy. Thus, there is a
lack of an established Iranian banking system in Central Asia
(apart from Kazakhstan), which complicates servicing commercial operations.
Table 1.
Exports of Central Asian countries in 2010
Country
Exports volume, billion USD
Share of exports volume, %
EC
31,9
37,7
Russia
13,8
16,4
China
12,4
14,6
Iran
4,0
4,8
Turkey
2,7
3,1
Switzerland
1,7
2,0
USA
1,1
1,3
Source
: R. Mogilevsky. Trends and Patterns of Foreign Trade in Central Asia. University of Central Asia. Institute of Public Administration and Policy. Report ...
... signed. At the same time the real interests of the oil extractors have demanded that the disagreements be settled.
Iran.ru
Vladimir Sazhin:
Caspian 2014: Cutting the Pie
In the light of this the different parties do not expect a general declaration. Russia and Kazakhstan managed to reach agreement on defining the median lines for dividing the shelf, and then Russia and Azerbaijan divided “their” part of the shelf, and the three countries agreed between themselves. Iran, however, refuses to recognise ...
... looms large.
Okay, democracy, you say. Maybe it is not what Eurasian integration needs. In fact, there is even no such a thing as Eurasian Union. First and foremost, it should come into being. Besides, looking at the domestic institutional designs of Russia, Belarus und Kazakhstan one can come to conclusion that democracy is not what the leaders of these three states concerned with. There is therefore no hope that EAU would be any more democratic than European Union.
There is, however, one thing worth an experiment ...
... creating a mechanism for imposing a moratorium on catching sturgeon.
According to official statements, the negotiations only made headway on environmental issues (such as conserving the sturgeon population). In addition, the “Caspian Five” (Russia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Azerbaijan) reaffirmed the principle of Caspian states’ non-interference in regional affairs.
As far as I can gather, no progress has been achieved on the main problem, i.e. agreeing spheres of influence. And without ...
... Central Asia observer - Uzbekistan left CSTO, doesn’t have any plans in joining Customs Union and tries to dominate regional competition. Other countries in the region are ruled out by the the very same parameters but with a different modulus sign. Russia is dealing with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, providing the two latter with aid and debt forgiveness. At the same time Russia is conducting a very equivocal migration policy concerning labor migrants from Central Asia, this and dubious perspectives of joining ...
... (TANAP). Nabucco is still on the list, as well as its competitors Nabucco West and
Trans Adriatic Gas Pipeline (TAP)
. The Russian gas transportation system is out of the question because Gazprom would not open its infrastructure to other suppliers.... ... Nagorno-Karabakh and the
systemic modernization of the armed forces
will remain hot topics in Baku.
During the past several years,
Kazakhstan's
key political issue has been the succession of power. It is its first president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, who has personally ...
... political elites, but by the general public in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan.
It is critical to establish whether the perception of Russia in Central Asia is broadly similar across the entire region or country-specific.
For example, Kazakhstan, Russia's main strategic partner, is widely believed to regard the present and future of bilateral relations much more favorably than Uzbekistan, which has lately been demonstrating an obvious bias toward Washington. This view is at least simplified, since ...
... neighbouring countries comes to the fore. The Irtysh River, which connects three friendly countries – China, Kazakhstan and Russia – integrated by strategic cooperation, is the subject of negotiations at different levels now for the second decade. Although Russia and Kazakhstan have quickly come to a common understanding of how to jointly and efficiently manage the river, China is in a different position.
China’s approach to the problem
The Irtysh River originates in China and called the Black Irtysh, it runs 672 ...
