Foreign Policy of Kazakhstan

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Foreign Policy and Security Threats of Kazakhstan Introduction: After independence in 1991, Kazakhstan strengthened its position on international arena in a historically short period of time. In comparison with other CIS countries (Commonwealth of Independent Countries), Kazakhstan managed to avoid inter-ethnic and interreligious conflicts. There were lots of difficulties and one of those difficulties was creating foreign policy from the scratch. During Soviet period, Kazakhstan did not have its own foreign policy.. In addition, after collapse of Soviet Union and end of Cold war brought uncertainty and instability that made country adapt to a new geopolitical situation and develop new foreign policy priorities, which should be consistent to the territorial location and to the role of the Kazakhstan in the international arena. As K.Z.Tokayev stated, for authors of the foreign policy concepts it was challenging to understand and analyze the events happening outside the country. This was primarily necessary to clear the role and the place of Kazakhstan in the modern international relations scene. Adhering to the principle of multi-vector foreign relations, Kazakhstan aimed to create a strong legal basis in all areas of foreign policy. Multi-vector foreign policy According to Nursultan Nazarbayev, “multi-vector foreign policy means development of predictable and friendly relationships with all countries. Kazakhstan- due to its regional and economic potential should not be concerned only about national issues. Through multi-vector policy we can eliminate any manifestation of threats to the security of Kazakhstan.” In contrast, Hanks in his work has controversial opinion about multi-vector foreign policy in Kazakhstan, “The term ‘multi-vectorism’ refers to a policy that develops foreign relations through a framework based on a pragmatic, non-ideological
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