Adam Keller Topaz 8th Struggle and Conflict 5 hours Contemporary factors: possesses the tenth largest oil reserves in the world. In addition to state funded infrastructure, Kazakhstan has also partnered with foreign nations (, Russia) and oil corporations (Exxon Mobil) in order to develop its infrastructure. Kazakhstan also has tremendous uranium, coal, gold, copper, and manganese reserves. Uranium is essential for energy production. Kazakhstan’s uranium industry has been diversifying its products, by selling not just raw uranium, but also processed pellets and fuel. Coal is a major source of Kazakhstan’s domestic energy market. Gold and copper have great value in the international commodities market. Manganese may not seem important, yet the steel industry depends on manganese for essential alloys.

History: While Kazakhstan has a long and complicated history, its role in the former has had the greatest influence on the its current status. Today Kazakhstan occupies more land than any other former SSR (except Russia). It also enjoys greater natural resource reserves than any other former SSR (except Russia). Kazakhstan’s modern connection with Russia begins in 1822, when Russia first asserted its hegemony over the Kazakh tribes. About halfway through the classical industrial revolution, Russian and Ukrainian peasants were sent to Kazakhstan in order to extend Russian political hegemony into cultural and economic spheres. These peasants also set up early industry. In 1917, following the Bolshevik revolution, Kazakhstan erupted into a short period of civil war. 1920 saw the creation of a formally Russian led central Asian state: the Kyrgyz Autonomous Socialist Kazakhstan. In order to subjugate the Kazakh people, territory was divided to intentionally ignore ethnicity. This is one reason why Kazakhstan has great diversity today.

Russia managed the Kazakh economy poorly. In the late 1920s – 1930s, the combination of high taxes and Russian agricultural “reform” starved one million to their deaths. In 1936, Kazakhstan was elevated to the status of full USSR membership. This led to greater trade, interconnectedness, and globalization vìs a vìs the USSR. In 1940, expanding upon the burgeoning diversity and modernization of Kazakhstan, hundreds of thousands of Tatars, Germans, and other ethnicities were forced to Kazakhstan. (Tatars and Germans to this day large comprise large minority ethnicities in Kazakhstan.) The early 1950s brought a different mass immigration to Kazakhstan. Nikita Khrushchev, leader of the Soviet Union, announced his “virgin lands” program. Two million Russians immigrated to Kazakhstan, dilution the proportion of ethnic Kazakhs to 30%. The government then seized and converted wild lands to cotton and wheat fields. This had a profound impact on the economy. Instead of industrializing Kazakhstan, the policy harmed nomadic Kazakhs who depended on meat and sustenance from the wilderness. As a result, citizens had to find new ways of life, for which they looked to agriculture and industry.

The 1980s signalled the beginning of the end for the USSR and the Kazakh SSR. In 1986, massive riots took place in the capital Almaty after Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev appointed a Russian as leader of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan (CPK). In 1989, the Berlin Wall fell, catalysing the decline of the USSR. In 1991, became the first president of the now-independent Republic of Kazakhstan. He ran uncontested. Kazakhstan’s current democratic integrity is at best questionable; Nazarbayev has been in power for 20 years. The constitution has been amended many times specifically to keep Nazarbayev in power. In 1993, the presidential term was extended to 7 years, and the maximum age limit was removed. Under Nazarbayev, opposition leaders have frequently been assassinated, jailed, and exiled.

Innovation/Infrastructure: Kazakhstan already has sizeable oil and gas infrastructure, and more infrastructure is built every year. Pipelines and facilities are constantly developing, as well as transportation infrastructure such as highways and railroads. Yet Kazakhstan suffers more from its semi-communist system than from a lack of infrastructure. The sovereign wealth fund of Kazakhstan, Samruk Kaznya, dominates almost every industry. Its vast holding include KazMunaiGas (oil), KazAtomProm (uranium), KazakhTelecom, Air Astana, United Chemical Company (uranium), National Mining Company, BTA Bank, Alliance Bank, Temirbank, and countless others. Almost no large corporations are privately owned. The evidence shows that Kazakhstan’s markets unfairly favour certain companies.

Kazakhstan needs an ambitious and sustained privatization campaign. By 2018, I would have Samruk Kaznya slowly sell off its shares in these corporations, and require these companies to replace their CEOs and management. This would raise tremendous money for the . According to the IMF, “Samruk Kaznya controls $77.5 billion dollars in assets, or 55.5% of GDP.” Kazakhstan should spend this $78 billion dollars on oil and transportation infrastructure to further the development of the nation. This infrastructure spending would raise GDP, development, and tax revenues, as well as create well- paying jobs.

Kazakhstan needs not only privatization but also democratization. Nursultan Nazarbayev has governed the nation for twenty years. Nazarbayev amended the constitution in 1993, 1995, and 1998, each time increasing his power and term limits, as well as removing the maximum age limit for president. In 1999, Nazarbayev blocked his opponent, former PM Kashegeldin from running. In 2001, Nazarbayev purged his government by terminating anyone who had joined a reform movement known as “Democratic Choice.” In 2002, and Galymzhan Zhakiyanov, the founders of Democratic Choice, were jailed. In 2005, a prominent Nazarbayev critic was murdered, and in 2006, another opposition figure was murdered. Nazarbayev’s rubber stamp parliament has constrained the Internet, removed the presidential term limits, and declared a state of emergency over a protest.

Kazakhstan must make significant democratic reforms. These must include a presidential term limit, harsh anti-corruption provisions, a reduction of police brutality, and greater (or existent) political freedom.

Bibliography Space to Place, Adam Keller http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/country_profiles/1298395.stm http://aboutkazakhstan.com/about-kazakhstan-history http://sk.kz http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/scr/2011/cr11150.pdf