How Kazakhstan's New President Will Navigate His Country's Role in the Global Great Power Competition

MIN READMay 24, 2019 | 05:30 GMT

Kazakhstan's acting President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Tokayev will be filling the shoes of Nursultan Nazarbayev, who has been not only the sole president of post-Soviet Kazakhstan but also the founder of the modern Kazakh nation.

(ALEXEI DRUZHININ/TASS via Getty Images)

Kazakhstan is undergoing the first succession process in its post-Soviet history, one that is likely to begin smoothly but eventually encounter economic, political and foreign policy problems. This succession may challenge Kazakhstan's domestic stability and also reverberate in the global power strategies of key external players Russia and China, who are competing for influence in the country....