KAZAKHSTAN: A MEDIATOR OF EURASIAN COOPERATION

Kazakhstan’s location at the heart of the Eurasian super-continent has enabled it to develop the deft touch necessary to turn the challenges of geopolitical competition into opportunities for cooperation. The complex geopolitical situation around Kazakhstan has led to its leaders in Astana developing a balanced foreign policy and playing the role of mediator in disputes in the region and beyond. Kazakhstan advocates Eurasia-wide dialogue and partnership to deal with common threats and to benefit from common opportunities. The Astana Club geopolitical forum is quickly developing into the main platform to promote such dialogue in Eurasia.

AT THE CENTER OF EURASIA

“East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet,” Rudyard Kipling famously suggested. But that’s no longer true. For centuries, Europe and Asia — which together account for 60% of global population, 65% of global GDP and 55% of global trade — were treated as separate worlds. The idea was that they were too different politically, economically, socially and