| i was born and raised in Kazakhstan, but left after high school. i've been following the situation in Kazakhstan and recent events give me a glimpse of hope. Kazakhstan, just like any other post-soviet country, suffers from a host of problems inherited from the USSR, such as. - corruption - inefficient political system - erased identity - soviet mentality in addition, our geopolitics is quite challenging. not only do we border 2 major powers that often in disputes over territories (Russia and China), but we're also a landlocked country heavily relying on the very same neighbours for exports. i'm not even talking about our water insecurity. but we also got lucky in some ways. - Kazakhstan is blessed with natural resources (such as oil), which helped us a lot throughout the early 2000s - fertility rate is above replacement (2.6-2.9) - we have direct access to some of the biggest markets (Russia, China) - our borders were not chopped up to plant disputes with neighbours in theory, if we play our cards right, we could come out on top. our population is around 19 million, so agriculture, mining and services alone should be enough to provide jobs. Kazakhstan is already moving in the right direction to facilitate business development (ranks 25 for easy doing business [1]) i've been following the youth of Kazakhstan and have to admit that they are way more patriotic and optimistic than my generation. they're fluent in Kazakh, open minded and more politically savvy. our culture is also flourishing (Kazakh songs consistently accumulate more views on youtube than the population of the country) and our national identity is strengthening. i see there is some criticism over Tokayev's proposals and it's easy to be skeptical after 30 years of a repressive regime. however, i still dare to hope. prosperity is doable and we simply need a better government with a fair justice system and distributed power. if the government manages to stay away from people's business and just provide a solid platform for stable life, i think we can go far. this aligns with the "Just and Fair Kazakhstan" plan proposed by the president and i'm happy to see it. 1. https://archive.doingbusiness.org/en/rankings |