Kazakhstan: A Faint-Hearted Democracy

This book examines how Kazakhstan is meeting the challenge of forging a stable state from a half-Slavic, half-Asian border territory.Last to declare independence, Kazakhstan could be among the wealthiest of the new states. Blessed with natural and human resources, a large territory, and an established infrastructure, the state could become a bridge between Europe and Asia. The population of 17 million is well enough educated to help form a varied economy, yet not so large as to become an economic burden. The population is deeply divided, however: the Kazakhs believe that they have realized nationalist dreams, while the Russians mourn a lost ascendancy.Kazakhstan's leaders have increasingly backed away from democratic principles, and growing corruption is undermining the state's commitment to economic reform. As American oil companies become more involved in Kazakhstan, the United States may in this country, as elsewhere, be drawn into defending unpopular leaders against the anger of their own people. The author urges that the United States press Kazakhstan to develop a political system that is free and fair and to use its vast natural wealth for the greater benefit of all its people.Martha Brill Olcott is a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a professor of political science at Colgate University.