Middle power behavior during the transition in world order: the case of Kazakhstan

Abstract

While the global prominence of China has become indisputable, and Russia challenges the liberal world order because of geopolitical and historical necessities, the Western world is striving in every way to strengthen the liberal system through the economic, military and democratic institutions. This gives reason to believe that the world order is currently experiencing a deep crisis and transformation in a post-pandemic period. What scientists agree on is that the main issue of the modern international relations is the suspense of the future scenario and the positions of the actors within it. However, it is beyond argument that the rise of multilateralism in world politics comes with the activation of middle power’s diplomacy that is becoming more prominent. The diversity of middle power countries is explained by the fact that the current multipolar system has discouraged unilateralism, conferring the possibility for middle powers to have a voice and push for a negotiated resolution. Currently, in the world scientific environment, middle power states are considered in two categories: traditional middle powers, such as South Korea and Japan, and rising middle power states. In this paper, we examine the middle power behavior during the world order transition by comparatively analyzing Kazakhstan's behavior with the rising and traditional mid-power states on the basis of empirical data. Kazakhstan might help to decrease the tension between the liberal world and the illiberal world by contributing to the mediation efforts. Key words: new world order, liberal order, multipolar system, middle power