Life Science Journal 2014;11(1) http://www.lifesciencesite.com Topical issues of Japan’s strategy in Central Asia: view from Kazakhstan Sadykova Raikhan Department of History, Archeology and Ethnology, Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Almaty 050040, Kazakhstan
[email protected] Abstract: The collapse of the bipolar system of international relations led to change in the geopolitical and geo- economic worldview. Leading experts actively began to say that the center of the world economy had shifted from the Euro-Atlantic space to that of Asia. Significant changes on the political map affected the Eurasian continent. Primarily, this was due to the collapse of the Soviet Union on the territory of which new independent states appeared. A new player represented by the Central Asian region appeared on the territory of the former Soviet Union. Since then, the political and economic development of the region began to arouse keen interest of not only the world’s economic centers such as the U.S., China and the EU, but also the leading regional powers such as Japan. Increasing role of Central Asia in the system of international relations makes it objectively necessary to understand the policy of the leading states, including Japan, in the region in the twenty-first century. Accordingly, the objective of the research is to study the formation and development of Japan’s policy toward the countries of Central Asia and to determine its prospects. [Sadykova R. Topical issues of Japan’s strategy in Central Asia: view from Kazakhstan. Life Sci J 2014;11(1):247-255]. (ISSN:1097-8135).