Kazakhstan's military reform and OSCE Chairmanship: Regional implications

This article argues that Kazakhstan's strengthening relations with NATO and the EU, as well as its prospective OSCE chairmanship in 2010 has impacted the wider Central Asia region. Neighboring Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan were able to use Kazakhstan as a shield when Russia pressed them to recognize independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia in August 2008. Kazakhstan's successful cooperation with NATO contributed to its recognition as a nation with great economic and political potential, though it remains questionable whether positive changes inside Kazakhstan in regards to democratic control of armed forces and other political sectors entailed by the OSCE chairmanship would similarly reverberate on a regional scale. Kazakhstan, for its part, should promote its successes regionally as part of its obligations as the OSCE chair.