by REGIS GENTE
Used since the start of the 1990s when the country became independent, the term “Eurasism” came in response to a primordial preoccupation with Russia’s influence. At that time it was an internal issue: Nazarbayev feared Moscow’s territorial ambitions on North Kazakhstan, which has a Russian ethnic majority (4). As far as international relations go, “Eurasism” serves not just to keep big brother Russia at bay but also to form the new republic’s geopolitical ambitions, its foreign policy objectives and its official posture on the world scene.
What’s true of goods is also true of people. In many ways the two countries’ citizens belong to similar cultural traditions. Russian is still widely spoken by the population of 16 million, including by ethnic Kazakhs (5). From Kostanay to Almaty, Aktau to Pavlodar, the most popular tv channels are those beamed from the powerful neighbour. The written word is essentially in Russian, whether for highbrow culture, science, for information or chat. Moscow remains an actor who cannot be avoided.
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