In 2019, Kazakhstan’s new President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev pledged large-scale political and economic reforms to open up political space, enhance dialogue between state and society, and initiate a series of substantial social and fiscal reforms. Now, eighteen months into the Tokayev presidency, progress is slower than expected. As the COVID-19 pandemic has strained an already exhausted system, the government’s capacity to carry out necessary political, social, and economic reforms is being called into question. What push and pull factors can we discern? With parliamentary and local elections on the horizon, will the country seize the opportunity for more systemic reform? Join us for a discussion on the complexity of political and socio-economic processes unfolding in today’s Kazakhstan.
Cosponsored by Harvard University’s Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. For questions, please contact Carnegie Russia and Eurasia Program at russiaeurasiaprogram@ceip.org.
