Asia | One steppe forward

Old politics in the “new Kazakhstan”

A reformist president has arranged his re-election

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Kazakhstan's president, during a session at the Qatar Economic Forum in Doha, Qatar, on Tuesday, June 21, 2022. The second annual Qatar Economic Forum convenes global business leaders and heads of state to tackle some of the world's most pressing challenges, through the lens of the Middle East. Photographer: Christopher Pike/Bloomberg via Getty Images
|ALMATY

NOWHERE HAS the international recoiling against Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine been more striking than in Kazakhstan. The vast, mineral-rich country shares over 7,600km (4,750 miles) of border with Russia and was long one of its closest allies. Yet Kazakhstan has banned displays of Russian military propaganda. It has given refuge to perhaps 100,000 Russian draft-dodgers. And its president, Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev, has shown an impressive lack of enthusiasm for the war.

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