Kazakhstan’s Foreign Policy since Independence: A Small State From Order Taker to Order Maker (1991-2021)

The role of small states in international relations has been thought of as one of deference to great powers. In this view, great powers can create, maintain, and dictate behaviour, while small states must follow their lead. Small states are considered weak, vulnerable, lacking in power, and therefore as “takers”. However, this thesis makes the argument that small states are also able to be “makers”. While small states lack power in material terms, and not all of them even have so-called soft power, they can develop other forms of power that can help them sustain their independence and influence others. Kazakhstan is a crucial case in point. It has adopted a foreign policy that was uncommon during the Cold War. It faced Russia in the North and China in the East and simultaneously developed relations with the West. It has pursued a balanced multi-vector foreign policy, demonstrating the ability to manage and conduct such a policy in an environment of great power politics. Moreover, under such conditions, post-independent Kazakhstan has shown the ability to focus on regional integration and nuclear disarmament, considered an area of great power privilege. A small state like Kazakhstan demonstrates that order-making can be done in a specific issue area and the form of an issue corrector. Besides, post-independence behaviour does not conform to small state theory; rather, it is active and proactive and does not bandwagon or balance with threatening powers, as mainstream International Relations theories suggested. Instead, it shows the pattern of behaviour that reflects post-independent Kazakhstan as a “maker” rather than a “taker”.