Internal and external factors of Kazakhstan events at the beginning of 2022 and possible Western and Russian strategies in the Republic

Abstract

At the beginning of 2022, Kazakhstan was at the epicenter of geopolitical tension in the post-Soviet space. This is due to the multi-vector policy of this State, which negatively affected not only the development of the country's economy, but also the protection of its security from internal and external threats. An analysis of the January events in the republic indicates that they mainly related to internal factors – the discontent of the population with the rapid rise in prices for liquefied gas and an attempt to redistribute spheres of influence in the highest spheres of the government. In addition, the external factor had a significant impact on the development of these events. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to reveal the causes of the tragic events in the winter of 2022; to analyze the actions of Kazakhstan’s authorities and the CSTO forces in the current conditions; to determine a possible strategy of the collective West in the republic after the January events; to propose a variant of the Russian strategy in the interests of returning Kazakhstan to its orbit of influence. The author's conclusions concerning the objectives of the study are presented at the end of the article.

Keywords

• kazakhstan
• russia
• usa
• europe
• sco
• csto
• factors
• strategy