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187
needs of the government for foreseeable future.
255 Second, the frequently mentioned geopolitical notion that Almaty’s location256 in the corner of the country is less suitable to be the capital than Astana is also still false. Despite the 11 years of developing infrastructure at Astana, it still lags behind that of Almaty. With modern communication technologies, the country could have been ruled with same efficiency from Almaty as it is from Astana. After all, the government of Kazakhstan is proud to tout its technological edge which conquers geographical space. (Guk, 2010) Third, the notion that Astana is poised to become a trading crossroads of the entire continent has yet to be realized. Only in 2010, the construction of a trans-continental highway has been initiated to connect Europe with Western China (Xinjiang) but even when it will be completed, it is hard to imagine that it would be able to supplant the sea trade between the continents. Besides, the same highway passes near Almaty as well. In any case, as it has been discussed previously, Almaty is still by far the largest trading center in the country. Fourth, Astana is still subject to the threat of violence. The terrorist attacks of 9/11 or repeated bombings in Moscow are evidence to how easily terrorism can overcome geographical distances and state borders.
There are other valid points made about Almaty that are true: it does suffer from environmental issues related to the overcrowding and, in particular, to the large number
255 Admittedly, Almaty does have a very high population density, about 5 times higher than that of Astana. (Kazakhstan za gody nezavisimosti 1991-2007, 2008, p. 4)
256 Nazarbayev’s justification of moving the capital frequently refer to geopolitics in the same sense as Mackinder referred to the world divided onto heartland and periphery. (Mackinder, 1904) In Nazarbayev’s rhetoric, Almaty is at the periphery of the modern Republic of Kazakhstan and Astana is at its heartland. (Nazarbayev N. A., 2005, pp. 46-45)
Object Description
| Title | Market reforms, foreign direct investment and national identity: Non-national identity of Kazakhstan |
| Author | Zhanalin, Azamat |
| Author email | janalin_a@yahoo.com; zhanalin@gmail.com |
| Degree | Doctor of Philosophy |
| Document type | Dissertation |
| Degree program | International Relations |
| School | College of Letters, Arts and Sciences |
| Date defended/completed | 2011-03-22 |
| Date submitted | 2011 |
| Restricted until | Unrestricted |
| Date published | 2011-04-29 |
| Advisor (committee chair) | English, Robert |
| Advisor (committee member) |
James, Patrick Rorlich, Azade-Ayse |
| Abstract | The present study offers an analysis of the concept of non-national identity in application to the Republic of Kazakhstan as the most likely case. The primary hypothesis is that newly independent states, which are undergoing a rapid transition to market economy and actively pursue integration in the world economy and foreign direct investment, will experience fragmentation of their national identity, defined as non-national identity.; Three sites in Kazakhstan, Almaty, Astana and Aktau, were chosen for the study as representative of the market reforms in the republic as well as the best examples of the country’s pursuit of foreign direct investment and integration into the global economy. The data collected indicates that while Kazakhstan does demonstrate fragmentation of its national identity, it is not necessarily caused by the market reforms and the participation in the global trade. Alternative causal variables such as the Soviet and Russian colonial legacy, intra-ethnic cleavages among the Kazakhs and the prevalence of multi-vector foreign policy were found to contribute to the development of non-national identity of Kazakhstan. The study’s results also suggest that in the last few years, Kazakh identity is experiencing a rather strong revival as well, which may yet counteract the existing factors leading to the emergence of the non-national identity of Kazakhstan. |
| Keyword | identity; nationalism; Kazakhstan; market reforms; globalization; foreign direct investment; national identity; countries in transition; foreign policy; culture; former Soviet Union; Central Asia; patronage networks; energy; oil; post-colonial legacy; nation-state |
| Geographic subject (city or populated place) | Almaty; Astana; Aktau |
| Geographic subject (country) | Kazakhstan |
| Coverage date | 1970/2010 |
| Language | English |
| Part of collection | University of Southern California dissertations and theses |
| Publisher (of the original version) | University of Southern California |
| Place of publication (of the original version) | Los Angeles, California |
| Publisher (of the digital version) | University of Southern California. Libraries |
| Provenance | Electronically uploaded by the author |
| Type | texts |
| Legacy record ID | usctheses-m3812 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Rights | Zhanalin, Azamat |
| Repository name | Libraries, University of Southern California |
| Repository address | Los Angeles, California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Filename | etd-Zhanalin-4506 |
| Archival file | uscthesesreloadpub_Volume51/etd-Zhanalin-4506.pdf |
Description
| Title | Page 193 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Full text | 187 needs of the government for foreseeable future. 255 Second, the frequently mentioned geopolitical notion that Almaty’s location256 in the corner of the country is less suitable to be the capital than Astana is also still false. Despite the 11 years of developing infrastructure at Astana, it still lags behind that of Almaty. With modern communication technologies, the country could have been ruled with same efficiency from Almaty as it is from Astana. After all, the government of Kazakhstan is proud to tout its technological edge which conquers geographical space. (Guk, 2010) Third, the notion that Astana is poised to become a trading crossroads of the entire continent has yet to be realized. Only in 2010, the construction of a trans-continental highway has been initiated to connect Europe with Western China (Xinjiang) but even when it will be completed, it is hard to imagine that it would be able to supplant the sea trade between the continents. Besides, the same highway passes near Almaty as well. In any case, as it has been discussed previously, Almaty is still by far the largest trading center in the country. Fourth, Astana is still subject to the threat of violence. The terrorist attacks of 9/11 or repeated bombings in Moscow are evidence to how easily terrorism can overcome geographical distances and state borders. There are other valid points made about Almaty that are true: it does suffer from environmental issues related to the overcrowding and, in particular, to the large number 255 Admittedly, Almaty does have a very high population density, about 5 times higher than that of Astana. (Kazakhstan za gody nezavisimosti 1991-2007, 2008, p. 4) 256 Nazarbayev’s justification of moving the capital frequently refer to geopolitics in the same sense as Mackinder referred to the world divided onto heartland and periphery. (Mackinder, 1904) In Nazarbayev’s rhetoric, Almaty is at the periphery of the modern Republic of Kazakhstan and Astana is at its heartland. (Nazarbayev N. A., 2005, pp. 46-45) |
