How Powerful Is Kazakhstan?

2017 was a big year for Kazakhstan — they hosted an international expo and currently hold a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council. But just how powerful is Kazakhstan?

To start, the country is massive, coming in at around 1,053,1000 square miles — that makes it the single largest landlocked country in the world and the ninth largest overall. It used to be the dominant economy in central Asia, but today their GDP is down by over $100 billion — which has significantly altered living conditions.

It was the last Soviet republic to become independent and has kept the same leader — Nursultan Nazarbayev — in power for 25 years. Nazarbayev regularly cracks down on free speech and religion and is known to imprison political activists. Although they’re technically a Democratic state, the human rights strains under long-standing leadership suggests otherwise.

Their military is also not that strong, ranking 55th worldwide, and boasts about 100,000 troops and a $2.4 billion defense budget. There’s a mandatory service policy in place and citizens must serve for at least two years. In terms of membership in international organizations, Kazakhstan is a member of the United Nations and the World Trade Organization.

As for their economy, society and military, the country has plenty of work to do — but has found itself sufficient in a post-Soviet era.