United States and NATO Military Cooperation with Kazakhstan: The Need for a New Approach*

Abstract

Since the formation of Kazakhstan's armed forces in the early 1990s, western countries have taken an increasingly active interest in providing military cooperation aimed at enhancing Kazakhstan's defence capabilities. This process was intensified in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on the United States on 11 September 2001 with Kazakhstan emerging as an important partner within Central Asia in the Global War on Terrorism. The United States, Turkey, U.K. and France have developed security assistance programmes with Kazakhstan, while the latter is also seeking to further diversify its bilateral military cooperation with other western countries as well as deepening its partnership with the NATO alliance.1 1Foreign Military Training In Fiscal Years 2003 and 2004, Volume I, U.S. Department of Defense and U.S. Department of State Joint Report to Congress, Released June 2004; FY 2002 U.S. Assistance to Eurasia, U.S. Government Assistance to and Cooperative Activities with Eurasia, January 2003. A key feature of western security assistance has been to help Kazakhstan strengthen its defence capabilities in the Caspian region in order to provide adequate independent protection for its burgeoning energy interests in the Caspian Sea. These cooperation programmes present significant challenges for Kazakhstan as it seeks to maximise its rewards from western assistance. Similarly, there have been hurdles to overcome by western planning staffs in tailoring this aid to meet Kazakhstan's needs. Western security assistance to Kazakhstan has often neglected or underestimated the close nature of Kazakhstan's security relationship with Russia. Consequently, fears in Moscow that the Caspian is becoming ‘militarised’ are a natural result of western policymakers failing to engage adequately with Russia. Kazakhstan is currently gaining invaluable dividends from western cooperation, but it has not capitalised fully upon these opportunities.