Why No Kazakh Novorossiya? Kazakhstan’s Russian Minority in a Post-Crimea World
Journal: Problems of Post-Communism
Year: 2016

Some Western pundits have embraced a “domino” logic to suggest that Kazakhstan might share the fate of Ukraine, with its Russian minority being used as the pretext for Russian intervention and irredentism. In this article I explore several reasons that invalidate this simplistic and mechanical parallel. Russia’s policy toward Kazakhstan aims at remaining the main political and cultural yardstick for the whole of Kazakhstani society, not merely the protector of Russian minorities. Perceived histo