Papers by Nargis Kassenova
Kazakhstan and the South Caucasus corridor in the wake of the Georgia-Russia war. EUCAM Policy Brief #3, 29 January 2009
... 2 Nargis Kassenova Kazakhstan has been exploring export routes ... Its main goal is to develo... more ... 2 Nargis Kassenova Kazakhstan has been exploring export routes ... Its main goal is to develop transport corridors in the Caspian Sea and further integration into the transportation in the Black, Mediterranean and Baltic Seas and also in the Persian Gulf. ...
Engaging Central Asia: The European Union's New Strategy in the Heart of Eurasia. CEPS Paperbacks. May 2008
... Neil Melvin concludes the volume by examining the broad political aims of the EU in Central A... more ... Neil Melvin concludes the volume by examining the broad political aims of the EU in Central Asia and argues that the Union should be careful to play to its strengths by promoting a European form of development in the region rather than seeking to operate as a geopolitical actor ...
Kazakhstan on the eve of OSCE chairmanship: Madrid commitments and domestic political landscape. EUCAM Commentary No. 7, 17 December 2009
Promises and hurdles in EU-Kazakhstan energy cooperation. EUCAM Commentary No. 20, November 2011
The Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) is an independent policy research institute based i... more The Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) is an independent policy research institute based in Brussels. Its mission is to produce sound analytical research leading to constructive solutions to the challenges facing Europe today. The views expressed in this report are those of the authors writing in a personal capacity and do not necessarily reflect those of CEPS or any other institution with which the authors are associated.
The European Union’s Strategy for Central Asia is currently undergoing review, and should take in... more The European Union’s Strategy for Central Asia is currently undergoing review, and should take into account major geopolitical changes occurring in Eurasia. Most importantly are Russia’s aggressive assertiveness in the post-Soviet space and its “pivot to Asia” away from the West, and China’s thrust into Central Asia and beyond. These changes create both challenges and opportunities for the EU to recalibrate its approach.
• The current EU strategy, underpinned by the geographical principle of proximity and shared borders, leaves Central Asia in the limbo position of being “neighbours of neighbours”. This principle can be contested. The core interest of the strategy – promotion of security and stability in Central Asia – can be misleading, and the plethora of priorities and programmes to support this goal dilutes the EU’s efforts in the region.
• A new policy could be developed around the long-term vision of a common space from Lisbon to Vladivostok and from Oslo to Almaty, built on the basis of European values and identity. Russian revisionist policies may be a stumbling block, but this obstacle is not insurmountable. Gently yet consistently bringing the Central Asian states into the orbit of Europe could motivate a faster Russian return into the“European family”that it belongs to.
• To be effective, the EU should be very selective in its priorities and choose programmes that build on its comparative advantages, such as the EU’s soft power. There must be clear benchmarks that are checked against the criteria of feasibility and visibility.
• Kazakhstan can play an even bigger role as a special partner of the EU, thanks to key shared interests and its European inclinations and identity. The opportunities opened up by the announced institutional reforms can be leveraged, but the EU should adopt a sophisticated approach that considers possible impediments, such as the possible hijacking of reforms by domestic lobbies. In its promotion of human rights and democratisation, the EU should find ways to counteract the state’s enhanced capacity to resist such pressures.
CEPS Policy Briefs present concise, policy-oriented analyses of topical issues in European affair... more CEPS Policy Briefs present concise, policy-oriented analyses of topical issues in European affairs, with the aim of interjecting the views of CEPS researchers and associates into the policy-making process in a timely fashion. Unless otherwise indicated, the views expressed are attributable only to the author in a personal capacity and not to any institution with which s/he is associated.
Ifri is a research center and a forum for debate on major international political and economic is... more Ifri is a research center and a forum for debate on major international political and economic issues. Headed by Thierry de Montbrial since its founding in 1979, Ifri is a non-governmental and a non-profit organization.
Eurasian Economic Integration, 2013
Kazakhstan: constructing identity in a post-Soviet society
Asian Ethnicity, 2012
ABSTRACT One of the problems with the now independent countries of Central Asia is that they have... more ABSTRACT One of the problems with the now independent countries of Central Asia is that they have little history of independent statehood and even less experience of any ideological context that legitimizes a specific set of political arrangements, other than the discredited Marxist model of the Soviet system. Neither habit nor attachment to a coherent set of political ideals is very helpful as the basis for individual identification with or support of the State. Perhaps as a consequence, political operatives in Central Asian countries have opted to emphasize the centrality of ethnicity to legitimize their current political arrangements. But in Kazakhstan this presents a potential problem – the country is ethnically very diverse, has a large Russian/Slavic population and the ‘core nation’ of ethnic Kazakhs comprises a bare majority of Kazakh citizens. We utilize survey research to test the influence such factors as ethnicity, religion and other nexus of identity have on feelings of attachment to the state. Our findings indicate that identifying as ‘Kazakh’ indeed has a positive effect on identification with the state, as do identifying as Sunni Muslim and ‘Asian’. However, institutional trust and economic well-being are also positive influences on affective regard for the state, allowing an opening for broadening and deepening the basis for state legitimacy.
Security and Human Rights, 2013
Taking a deliberately narrow conception of security, de ned as the organizational e fectiveness o... more Taking a deliberately narrow conception of security, de ned as the organizational e fectiveness of regimes, this paper considers recent incidents of violence in Central Asia (the second revolution in Kyrgyzstan; events in Osh, Zhanaozen and Pamir; and various "terrorist" incidents) to ask which factors have shown their potential to cause con ict and destabilization. In light of this, the paper discusses the sources of legitimacy and state capacity in Central Asian states, concluding that they are "Machiavellian principalities".
Central Asian Survey, Jan 1, 2005
Books by Nargis Kassenova
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Papers by Nargis Kassenova
• The current EU strategy, underpinned by the geographical principle of proximity and shared borders, leaves Central Asia in the limbo position of being “neighbours of neighbours”. This principle can be contested. The core interest of the strategy – promotion of security and stability in Central Asia – can be misleading, and the plethora of priorities and programmes to support this goal dilutes the EU’s efforts in the region.
• A new policy could be developed around the long-term vision of a common space from Lisbon to Vladivostok and from Oslo to Almaty, built on the basis of European values and identity. Russian revisionist policies may be a stumbling block, but this obstacle is not insurmountable. Gently yet consistently bringing the Central Asian states into the orbit of Europe could motivate a faster Russian return into the“European family”that it belongs to.
• To be effective, the EU should be very selective in its priorities and choose programmes that build on its comparative advantages, such as the EU’s soft power. There must be clear benchmarks that are checked against the criteria of feasibility and visibility.
• Kazakhstan can play an even bigger role as a special partner of the EU, thanks to key shared interests and its European inclinations and identity. The opportunities opened up by the announced institutional reforms can be leveraged, but the EU should adopt a sophisticated approach that considers possible impediments, such as the possible hijacking of reforms by domestic lobbies. In its promotion of human rights and democratisation, the EU should find ways to counteract the state’s enhanced capacity to resist such pressures.
Books by Nargis Kassenova
• The current EU strategy, underpinned by the geographical principle of proximity and shared borders, leaves Central Asia in the limbo position of being “neighbours of neighbours”. This principle can be contested. The core interest of the strategy – promotion of security and stability in Central Asia – can be misleading, and the plethora of priorities and programmes to support this goal dilutes the EU’s efforts in the region.
• A new policy could be developed around the long-term vision of a common space from Lisbon to Vladivostok and from Oslo to Almaty, built on the basis of European values and identity. Russian revisionist policies may be a stumbling block, but this obstacle is not insurmountable. Gently yet consistently bringing the Central Asian states into the orbit of Europe could motivate a faster Russian return into the“European family”that it belongs to.
• To be effective, the EU should be very selective in its priorities and choose programmes that build on its comparative advantages, such as the EU’s soft power. There must be clear benchmarks that are checked against the criteria of feasibility and visibility.
• Kazakhstan can play an even bigger role as a special partner of the EU, thanks to key shared interests and its European inclinations and identity. The opportunities opened up by the announced institutional reforms can be leveraged, but the EU should adopt a sophisticated approach that considers possible impediments, such as the possible hijacking of reforms by domestic lobbies. In its promotion of human rights and democratisation, the EU should find ways to counteract the state’s enhanced capacity to resist such pressures.