Back to the Great Game in Kazakhstan

The EU is pursuing the wrong course by refusing Kazakhstan a chance to participate in the European Neighborhood Policy. With Russia and China competing for influence, Europe cannot afford to squander a golden opportunity to anchor this vitally important country in the West.

BRUSSELS – Those who oppose Western rapprochement with Kazakhstan cite the country’s lack of political and human rights. But, while Kazakhstan has not gone down the “color revolution” route to democracy that other post-Soviet republics like Ukraine and Georgia have followed, its timidity about reform does not justify isolation.

After all, the West is not deterred in the slightest from dealing with authoritarian Russia and communist China. Moreover, Kazakhstan, though a Muslim majority country, has established the type of secular, multi-ethnic, and multi religious polity that the West is seeking to encourage throughout the Muslim world.

But the principal reasons for the West not to isolate Kazakhstan are geostrategic. The Kazakhs are keen to sell their oil and gas to the West at the very moment that the European Union is anxious to shed its dependence on Russian supplies. Yet the window of opportunity for an EU-Kazakh partnership may be closing.

We hope you're enjoying Project Syndicate.

To continue reading, subscribe now.

Subscribe

or

Register for FREE to access two premium articles per month.

Register

Support High-Quality Commentary

For more than 25 years, Project Syndicate has been guided by a simple credo: All people deserve access to a broad range of views by the world's foremost leaders and thinkers on the issues, events, and forces shaping their lives. At a time of unprecedented uncertainty, that mission is more important than ever – and we remain committed to fulfilling it.

But there is no doubt that we, like so many other media organizations nowadays, are under growing strain. If you are in a position to support us, please subscribe now.

As a subscriber, you will enjoy unlimited access to our On Point suite of long reads, book reviews, and insider interviews; Big Picture topical collections; Say More contributor interviews; Opinion Has It podcast features; The Year Ahead magazine, the full PS archive, and much more. You will also directly support our mission of delivering the highest-quality commentary on the world's most pressing issues to as wide an audience as possible.

By helping us to build a truly open world of ideas, every PS subscriber makes a real difference. Thank you.

Subscribe Now

https://prosyn.org/xxd6sOW