JRL NEWSWATCH: “Kazakhstan Unrest and Russia’s Intervention Transform Ties With Moscow” – WSJ

Map of CIS Central Asia and Environs

“As violence grows, the Russian military deployment injects a new element into the crisis in the former Soviet republic.” “… Nazarbayev steered the country along two tracks[,] [a]t home, … strengthen[ing] … Kazakh identity and weaken[ing] Russia’s historic influence[,] [while, in] foreign and defense policy … hew[ing] close to the Kremlin, assuring Russia … Kazakhstan would always remain a strategic […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Kazakhstan protests mark end of Nazarbayev era” – Financial Times

File Photo of Hillary Rodham Clinton with Nazarbayev

“Former president’s handpicked successor takes control of security forces and turns to Russia for help.” “… protests that have shaken Kazakhstan may mark the end of [81-year-old] Nursultan Nazarbayev’s long grip on power — but do not suggest the oil-rich central Asian country will make a smooth transition from autocratic rule. Nazarbayev had ruled the country for most of Kazakhstan’s […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Tatiana Stanovaya explains why Putin won’t go like Nazarbayev” – Meduza

Kremlin and River

“… Tatiana Stanovaya says Kazakhstani President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s resignation won’t likely affect … Putin’s transition-of-power calculus in the way that many observers have speculated. She argues that Kazakhstan’s unique political traditions, elite structure, and society, not to mention the country’s fundamentally different geopolitical conditions, mean that Nazarbayev’s exit doesn’t work as a model for Putin, though the Kremlin will pay […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “China, Russia Stand to Gain From Kazakhstan’s Political Transition; New president aims to maintain nation’s security ties to Moscow, economic links to Beijing” – Wall Street Journal/ Ann M. Simmons, Thomas Grove

Map of CIS Central Asia and Environs

“A smooth political transition after the unexpected resignation of Kazakhstan’s longtime leader serves the interests of neighboring Russia and China …. [S]ince the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia has shouldered the region’s military burden, while China has provided the impulse for economic growth, a system Kazakhstan has embraced …. On Tuesday, Nursultan Nazarbayev, a 78-year-old autocrat who has ruled […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Nazarbayev to retain position of Kazakh Security Council head, Nur Otan party leader” – Interfax

File Photo of Nursultan Nazarbayev and Barack Obama with Flags

ASTANA. March 19 (Interfax) – Nursultan Nazarbayev, who has stepped down as Kazakh president, will carry on as chief of the country’s Security Council. “You have put your trust in me all these years. I was happy to serve the people. I bow my head and express gratitude. I worked hard to fulfill the will of the people. I will […]

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