The Challenges on the Way of Reforming the UN
On September 18, 2017, a day before the opening of the 72nd session of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly (GA), 128 UN member states signed the U.S. drafted political declaration of the 10-point plan for broad reforms of the world body. The document, known as the Political Declaration for UN […]
The Fifth Caspian Summit in Astana: to be or not to be?
On October 6, 2017, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov visited Astana to have consultations with his Kazakh counterpart Kairat Abdrakhmanov. At the joint press conference following the talks, Lavrov stated that the V. Caspian Summit would be hosted by Kazakhstan next year as the heads of states agreed (Ministry of […]
Women in Academic Science: The Case of Kazakhstan
One of the most important objectives of achieving gender symmetry is ensuring equitable representation of women and men in leadership positions in academic science. In order to understand the current state of progress in gender quality in Kazakhstan’s academic science there is a need to overview the available statistical data. […]
The Caspian Sea Level Changes: Causes and Consequences
After the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, the new independent Caspian littoral states faced with the necessity to adopt their own strategies towards the development of the coastal territories including energy and transport infrastructure improvement. However, since the Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed water body, […]
The China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan Railway Project: Problems and Prospects
The China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan (CKU) railway project aimed to link Beijing with Central Asia is among China’s main transportation policy priorities in the region. The CKU project, which has been on the agenda since the mid-1990s, is also of great importance for China’s Belt and Road Initiative. Under the project, the railway […]
The Economics of Demographics in Kazakhstan
Within the field of economics, demographics is a very powerful tool for analysis and forecasting. The application of the economic analysis techniques to demographics can provide us with a wide variety of information for purposes ranging from economic market research to economic policy development. According to the Committee on Statistics […]
Latest Developments in Kazakhstan’s Uranium Industry*
In the Soviet period, Kazakhstan’s uranium industry played an important role as an integral part of the USSR’s nuclear military-industrial complex. When the Soviet Union collapsed, in addition to the nuclear-weapon systems and facilities, the newly independent state inherited a developed civilian uranium mining and processing infrastructure (Nuclear Threat Initiative, […]
Prospects for the Caspian Ports Infrastructure Development in Iran
Maritime transport plays a crucial role in facilitating international trade and boosting economic development. Being placed in an advantageous geographical position, namely, between the Caspian Sea, Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman, Iran is strongly interested in the expansion of its maritime transportation network benefiting from the transit advantages. In […]
Where Happy People Live
During his working visit to Aktobe city a few days ago, the President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev familiarized with the work of several industrial enterprises and summed up: “In Aktobe there is a road to China, railway, gas. There are no such conditions in most cities. You are happy people, […]
China’s Transfer of Production Facilties to Central Asia: Kazakhstan Case
In the early 2000s, in order to reduce the costs of production, a large number of Western companies moved their industrial facilities to regions with an undeveloped market, cheap labor and low industrial costs for environment. In this regard, the countries of the Asia-Pacific region, especially China, which has become […]