The Challenges of post-Soviet Transition in Kazakhstan

Conference Report

On Friday, 8 April 2005, the Energy Programme Asia (EPA) - International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS), Leiden, the Netherlands, and the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Brussels, Belgium organized a symposium entitled: "The Challenges of the post-Soviet Transition in Kazakhstan", University of Leiden, Academy Building, University Council Room, Rapenburg 73, Leiden.

The conference was the second out of a number of conferences to be held in Europe and Asia as part of the Energy Programme Asia, an IIAS research programme managed by Dr. Mehdi Parvizi Amineh. The Energy Programme Asia provides cutting edge research and publications on the impact of East and Southeast Asian energy supply strategies for the Caspian Region and the Persian Gulf in the 21st century. The EPA was initiated at the International Institute for Asian Studies in cooperation with the Clingendael International Energy Program (CIEP), Waseda University Tokyo, and the Beijing Normal University. The conference brought together policy-makers, journalists, academics and diplomats to discuss the state of affairs in Kazakhstan, one of the five littoral states of the Caspian region (Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkmenistan). Kazakhstan has the second largest oil resources in the former Soviet Union, which are important for its economic development. It is also the second largest oil producer in the former Soviet Union. The main question addressed in this conference was: What are the links between economic and political reform in Kazakhstan, as one of the most important post-Soviet countries in transition? The eight Republics of the former Soviet Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan) and South Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia) in 1991 embarked on political and economic reforms: from a planned to a market economy, from an authoritarian political regime to a democratic one. They have had varying degrees of success on both fronts. Some countries have had remarkable success liberalizing their economic and political systems. Others continue to have economic and political systems reminiscent of the Soviet era. Kazakhstan, as the largest and one of the most important of the newly formed Central Asian Republics is an interesting case study to look at explanations for the divergent outcomes of political and economic reform in countries with similar cultures and similar institutional starting points. Today, in the interconnected world of global markets it has become apparent that those countries that are able to find the right formulas for both political and economic reform are likely to be successful in their overall political and economic development while the others will fall behind in their development efforts. The conference brought together policy-makers, journalists, academics and diplomats to discuss the state of affairs in Kazakhstan, one of the five littoral states of the Caspian region. The focus of this conference was looking at what the links are between economic and political reform in Kazakhstan. Market economies and democratic governance are closely related concepts. they mutually reinforce one another. A common conception is that the shortest path to market economy and democracy are parallel and complementary. Empirically, there is not much support for this conclusion. For example, how is it that some Latin American countries have been relatively successful with democratization but less successful with economic reform, while some South East Asian countries have been quite successful with economic reform but less with democratization? How is it that there is a direct connection between market economy and democratization theoretically, while empirically this connection is much more varied and complex?