Kazakstan-National Security Prospects

Like the other four Central Asian republics (with the possible exception of Uzbekistan), Kazakstan lacks the resources to create an independent military establishment or an effective internal security force. By 1995 policy makers, headed by President Nazarbayev, had recognized the need to remain under the umbrella of Russian military protection, a status reinforced by a number of bilateral treaties and expected to become further institutionalized in future years. The poor state of internal security was a crisis that eluded control in the mid-1990s, despite authoritarian measures by Nazarbayev. But Kazakstan has committed itself to encouraging foreign investment in the effort to salvage the national economy. To provide an appropriate atmosphere for such commercial activity, improved internal security, perhaps with substantial Western assistance, is a necessary step.

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Relatively few monographs have been written on Kazakstan. For historical background in the modern era, Central Asia: 120 Years of Russian Rule , edited by Edward Allworth, offers a comprehensive treatment. Useful economic information on the post-Soviet period is available from the World Bank's Kazakstan: The Transition to a Market Economy , the PlanEcon Review and Outlook for the Former Soviet Republics , and the Central Intelligence Agency's Kazakstan: An Economic Profile . A more concise summary of Kazakstan's geopolitical position in the 1990s is found in Charles Undeland and Nicholas Platt's The Central Asian Republics .

Among the most complete historical and social analyses of the country is Martha Brill Olcott's The Kazakhs , the second edition of which was published in 1995. Central Asia , edited by Hafeez Malik, offers a collection of articles on the history and geopolitics of the region. Current information on political and economic events is found in the Foreign Broadcast Information Service's Daily Report: Central Eurasia , and current information on environmental issues is contained in that service's FBIS Report: Environment and World Health , which before August 1995 was titled FBIS Report: Environment . For further information and complete citations, see Bibliography.)

Data as of March 1996