Kazakhstan seeks to chart own course
It may be too soon to speak of a divorce between Russia and Kazakhstan. Yet the former’s invasion of Ukraine is sending shivers through Central Asia
Alliances are being redrawn in Central Asia, with Russia, China, Turkey and the West pulling the region’s countries in different directions, and experts say energy trade is the key indicator to watch. Kazakhstan, which contains the region’s largest proven oil reserves and shares the world’s second-largest land border with Russia, is sharply in focus for defying its former imperial master. Kazakhstan, home to 19mn people, is the largest Central Asian state. It is also the only country in the region to border Russia, and has been on a geopolitical rollercoaster this year. In January, Russian forces helped quell what authorities described as a foreign-backed coup, leading many analysts to specu
Also in this section
25 April 2024
Some companies with assets in Israel have turned towards Egypt as tensions escalate, but others are holding firm despite rising tensions
24 April 2024
But even planned exploration activity is unlikely to reverse declining output from mature fields
23 April 2024
Cheaper Russian barrels and lower overall crude prices have helped cut key oil consumer’s import bills in election year
22 April 2024
Pursuing three different goals as part of the same package may mean achieving none of them