President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev said at the 70th session of the UN General Assembly in New York that his country supports the measures being taken by the international community – the UN, the League of Arab States, the United States and Russia, as well as the actions of the Syrian authorities and the opposition. Then he had a meeting with US President Barack Obama, after which White House spokesman Josh Ernest called Kazakhstan "a very important ally."
The Kazakh leader spoke about the details of the meeting with Barack Obama at a meeting on the fight against extremism and terrorism on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. Nursultan Nazarbayev expressed satisfaction with the fact that "the Russian president and the president of the United States have met to discuss sensitive issues." "Mr. Obama has just told me that they talked about the situation in Ukraine and Syria.They were very frank, as he said," the leader of Kazakhstan noted. "At least noting Mr. Obama's words, he was pleased with the frankness and honesty. He said: "I started understanding Russia's position, and we will work further." It's a good thing that Obama during his presidency – he still has one and a half years – wants to improve relations between the United States and Russia."
In addition to discussing the 'Russian theme', Nazarbayev and Obama "stressed the importance of the Kazakh-US partnership to insure development, stability and security in the region." There are more than 300 US-Kazakh joint ventures in Kazakhstan. Astana is interested in further development of cooperation and the active participation of US companies in the program of industrial-innovative development. The press service of the presidential administration of Kazakhstan also noted that the two leaders "exchanged views on topical issues of the international agenda."
The increased interest of Washington in Astana is no coincidence. As the Director of the Analytical Center of the Institute of International Studies Andrey Kazantsev told Vestnik Kavkaza, Kazakhstan is important for the United States for three reasons. One reason is related to the relations with Russia, the second with the US policy towards Afghanistan, the third with China. "Kazakhstan is presenting itself quite successfully and it is perceived by the West as one of the mediators in relations with Moscow. And it needs intermediaries, since mutual trust between the Russian and Western political elites has been lost. And there are fewer and fewer such intermediaries now. Traditionally, Germany took on this role, but not so long ago Angela Merkel refused to do it, saying that Putin 'is living in another world'. Kazakhstan has more chances than anyone else to somehow bring the sides together," the expert said. According to him, Nazarbayev can find common ground with Putin, he is the initiator of Eurasian integration, he never allows outright rows in relations with Moscow, as even Alexander Lukashenko does. On the other hand, as a part of its multi-vector policy, Kazakhstan has good relations with the West too, Astana pays great attention to the construction of the liberal economic rules of the game in the country, successfully attracting Western investment.
"The West perceives Nazarbayev's Kazakhstan as 'an island of stability and predictability' in Central Asia and the former Soviet Union. This means that from the standpoint of US interests it can serve as a mediator not only in relations with Russia, but also play an important role in stabilizing the periphery of Afghanistan. This is another direction of US policy," Andrey Kazantsev noted. According to him, this is very important for Obama, as his place in history will depend on what he leaves behind in Afghanistan after his term. All his criticism of Bush was aimed at the fact that he forgot about Afghanistan and, in fact, suffered a defeat there. Kazantsev believes that there are high chances that historians will remember Obama's policies in Afghanistan as a big mistake.
Finally, the third factor of Kazakhstan's importance for Obama is China. "Within the framework of the Chinese project 'the Economic Zone of the Silk Road' Kazakhstan plays an important role, Chinese President Xi Jinping first spoke about it in Kazakhstan not without reason. This project is often seen as a response to Beijing on a key element of Obama's policy, as a 'pivot' and 'rebalancing', i.e. the translation of the basic military and political efforts of the US in the Asia-Pacific Ocean region. The rivalry of the US and the West with China for influence in Kazakhstan is not over yet," the expert stressed. For example, Kazakhstan's economy in terms of energy exports and investment is essentially linked with the Western world, not with China or Russia.
According to a senior scientist of the Institute of Oriental Studies, not so much Kazakhstan as the very person of Nursultan Nazarbayev is important for the US. "During the political crisis it's Nazarbayev who is seen by the West as an intermediary in negotiations with Moscow. He often provided a platform for talks on the Iranian nuclear issue, the Syrian settlement, he acted as a mediator in the conflict with Ukraine. Nazarbayev maintains a multi-vector policy, which is positively perceived both by Russia and the West. No one makes any remarks about him, no one lays down any conditions as to 'either you are with us or against us', he suits everyone," Shokhrat Kadyrov told Vestnik Kavkaza. According to the expert, most of the other leaders of the former Soviet Union "are hostages of the Western policy from one side, and of Russia from the other side, but Nazarbayev has managed to create relationships, which might be not of the same vector, but are close for sure."
