Kazakhstan in Europe: Why Not? Svante E. Cornell Johan Engvall SILK ROAD PAPER October 2017 Kazakhstan in Europe: Why Not? Svante E. Cornell Johan Engvall © Central Asia-Caucasus Institute & Silk Road Studies Program – A Joint Transatlantic Research and Policy Center American Foreign Policy Council, 509 C St NE, Washington D.C. Institute for Security and Development Policy, V. Finnbodavägen 2, Stockholm-Nacka, Sweden www.silkroadstudies.org ”Kazakhstan in Europe: Why Not?” is a Silk Road Paper published by the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute and Silk Road Studies Program, Joint Center. The Silk Road Papers Series is the Occasional Paper series of the Joint Center, and addresses topical and timely subjects. The Joint Center is a transatlantic independent and non-profit research and policy center. It has offices in Washington and Stockholm and is affiliated with the American Foreign Policy Council and the Institute for Security and Development Policy. It is the first institution of its kind in Europe and North America, and is firmly established as a leading research and policy center, serving a large and diverse community of analysts, scholars, policy-watchers, business leaders, and journalists. The Joint Center is at the forefront of research on issues of conflict, security, and development in the region. Through its applied research, publications, research cooperation, public lectures, and seminars, it functions as a focal point for academic, policy, and public discussion regarding the region. Research for this publication was made possible through the core funding of the Joint Center’s institutional sponsors, as well as project support from the Embassy of Kazakhstan in Sweden. The opinions and conclusions expressed in this study are those of the authors only, and do not necessarily reflect those of the Joint Center or its sponsors. © Central Asia-Caucasus Institute and Silk Road Studies Program, 2017 ISBN: 978-91-88551-02-3 Printed in Lithuania Distributed in North America by: Central Asia-Caucasus Institute American Foreign Policy Council 509 C St NE, Washington DC 20002 E-mail: [email protected] Distributed in Europe by: The Silk Road Studies Program Institute for Security and Development Policy Västra Finnbodavägen 2, SE-13130 Stockholm-Nacka E-mail: [email protected] Editorial correspondence should be addressed to the European offices of the Joint Center (preferably by e-mail.) Contents Executive Summary ........................................................................................................... 4 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 9 Kazakhstan’s European Identity: How European is Kazakhstan? ......................... 13 Eurasianism à la Kazakhstan: a Bridge between Asia and Europe ................................... 13 Commitment to Secularism ..................................................................................................... 17 Building a European Education System ................................................................................ 21 Civic Nation-Building .............................................................................................................. 26 Against the Grain? The Logic of Kazakhstan’s Political Reforms ...................................... 31 Economic Modernization ......................................................................................................... 38 Summary: Kazakhstan as a European State .......................................................................... 41 Kazakhstan in European Organizations ...................................................................... 43 The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) ................................. 43 The European Union (EU) ....................................................................................................... 46 The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) ............................................................... 50 The Council of Europe (CoE) .................................................................................................. 53 The Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) ......................... 58 Summary: Kazakhstan and European Organizations ......................................................... 62 Conclusions ....................................................................................................................... 64 Kazakhstan’s European Identity ............................................................................................. 64 Implications for Kazakhstan .................................................................................................... 65 Implications for European States and Organizations .......................................................... 66 Authors’ Bio ...................................................................................................................... 70 Executive Summary Is Kazakhstan a European state? The answer to this question could define the character of the country’s long-term relationship with European institutions and organizations, and profoundly affect the country’s social, political and economic development. The timing of this question, however, might seem inopportune. European institutions face deep internal difficulties: the EU is reeling from Brexit and controversies with hungary and Poland, and the Council of Europe faces serious problems with countries on Europe’s eastern and southeastern flanks that, much like Kazakhstan, straddle the boundaries between Europe and Asia. That may limit the appetite for discussing Kazakhstan’s relationship to Europe. Yet the question may no longer be pushed to an undetermined future. Kazakhstan is undeniably a European state: it certainly fulfills the Council of Europe‘s two criteria of being “wholly or partly located in Europe” and a country “whose culture is closely linked with the European culture.”1 Indeed, much like Turkey and Russia, it is a country that straddles the geographic divide between the two continents. And since independence, Kazakhstan has defined itself as a state that combines, in a positive and reinforcing manner, a European and an Asian identity. Yet for the first 25 years of its independence, the question of the country’s European identity did not take center-stage. European institutions were gradually expanding into central and Eastern Europe, somewhat reluctantly going as far as defining the South Caucasus as a part of Europe. Meanwhile, Kazakhstan’s 1 Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, “Enlargement of the Council of Europe”, Recommendation 1247, (1994), http://assembly.coe.int/nw/xml/XRef/Xref-XML2hTML- en.asp?fileid=15281&lang=en. Svante E. Cornell and Johan Engvall 5 centralized government structure and top-down approach to reforms limited its European ambitions. Nevertheless, important developments underway in Central Asia raise the question anew. Already in 2008, Kazakhstan’s government presented a three-year state program labeled “The Path to Europe”. More significantly, from 2015 onward Kazakhstan has redoubled its reform agenda, beginning with a 100-step program focused on transparency and efficiency of government. By 2017, the country had adopted a package of fundamental constitutional reforms that, among others, devolve powers from the President’s office to the parliament. And as has been the case elsewhere in the post-Communist world, it is primarily to Europe and European institutions that Kazakhstan’s reformers turn for standards, guidance and assistance as they seek to design and implement steps to achieve the lofty development goals that Kazakhstan’s President has set for the country. This is happening at a time when Europe is beginning to realize Central Asia’s role as a transport corridor to east and south Asian destinations, and when neighboring Uzbekistan is, too, embarking on a path of fundamental reforms. After Kazakhstan and the EU signed a groundbreaking Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement in 2016, the question is how Europe’s relationship to Kazakhstan – and by extension to Central Asia as a whole – can be further developed. It is not only geography that makes Kazakhstan a European state. Indeed, the prevailing national conception in Kazakhstan is based on an understanding of Eurasianism that differs starkly from the Russian definition of the term. Kazakhstani Eurasianism does not view itself as a geopolitical space distinct from both Europe and Asia, but as embodying the positive meeting space between Europe and Asia, drawing on both. And indeed, a closer look at Kazakhstan’s development since independence highlights the important European aspects of its statehood. Kazakhstan is a secular state with a civic conception of the nation based on an inclusive, citizenship-based understanding of membership in the national community. That in itself makes it highly compatible with European norms and principles. In addition, Kazakhstan’s leadership has embarked on significant education reforms that seek to align the country with European standards, ensuring Kazakhstan in Europe 6 that the next generation of Kazakhstanis will find much in common with their European counterparts. It is mainly Kazakhstan’s political and economic model that has diverged from Europe: since independence, while performing as a leading economic liberalizer, Kazakhstan has adopted a top-down approach to state-building