Vol. 4 No. 4 (2021): Pakistan Journal of International Affairs
Articles

KAZAKHSTAN’S MULTI-VECTOR FOREIGN POLICY AND REGIONAL APPROACH ECONOMIC AND DIPLOMATIC SUCCESS

Published 2021-12-31

Abstract

This article serves a purpose of explaining the multi-vector foreign policy of Kazakhstan under theoretical framework. The largest landlocked country that is caught in between two communists nuclear weapon states still manages to assert its identity and sustained its sovereignty. How Kazakhstan emerged as regional economic giant of Central Asia and how Kazakhstan has managed to have good bilateral ties with Russia, China and US without becoming its client state. It is not only the member of multilateral forums but also actively participating in regional and international organizations. The role of ex-President Nazarbayev and its legacy of “multi-vector diplomacy” as a benchmark for economic and diplomatic success. Moreover, how these economic and diplomatic ties are safeguarding its ethnic Kazakh identity. It also explains Kazakhstan’s influential role in regional and international disputes including its contributions for making the region of Central Asia as nuclear weapon Free Zone (NWFZ). How the multi-vector foreign policy of Kazakhstan has managed to shape the “New Great Game” for its own benefits by using the competing interests of Great Powers against each other. And lastly it explains the liability of new elected president Tokayev to continue following the legacy of Ex-President Nursultan Nazarbayev.