Abstract
Kazakhstan's Nation-Building Process and Economic Policy
Turkic Republics have followed economic reform policies in their countries since 1980s when the Union of Soviet Socialists Republics showed indications of dissolution. During this process, economic reforms rather intended for improving the functioning of the Socialist economy model. This reform policy was maintained until 25 December 1991. The republics, declaring their independence one after the other with the dissolution of USSR on this date, abandoned Soviet economy model and adopted a liberal economy understanding in their countries henceforth. During this process, Kazakhstan served as the revisionist leader of the Turkic Republics. Declaring her independence on 16 December 1991, Kazakhstan attempted a substantial move for developing under the guidance of President Nazarbayev who well comprehended the importance of economic policy in the nation-building process. By gradually abolishing the governmental control over the markets, Nazarbayev followed a policy that focused on the transition to the free market economy, the operation of rich underground resources in the country through privatization of government enterprises and the creation of domestic and foreign markets. These objectives were tried to be put into practice through the adoption of law on promotion of investments, price policies followed and regulations in the fields of tax and customs. Furthermore, the effect of Russian Ruble on Kazakh economy was eliminated by mobilizing national currency Tenge on 15 November 1993. As a result of the revisionist economy policies adopted, Kazakhstan economy was commercially liberalized to a great extent, monopolies were liquidated, and trade and banking sectors made progress. As of 2017, Kazakhstan has an active role in the world trade by establishing close contacts with new players involved in international trade as well as her traditional economy partners. This study shortly highlights Kazakhstan's political history through basic concepts of International Political Economy, a newly-emerging discipline, and then evaluates the economic policies adopted during the struggle of Kazakh people to sustain their national existence under different Russian regimes and the nation-building process after their victory. The basic argument of this study is that Kazakhstan's economic policy following her independence has been real up until 2017.
Keywords
Kazakhstan, International Political Economy, Nation, Nursultan Nazarbayev.
