ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the different stages of bilateral relations between Russia and Kazakhstan. It reviews the field of post-Soviet studies to consider extant approaches to the stages of the formation and development of Russia-Kazakhstan relations following the collapse of the USSR. The chapter presents detailed analysis of Kazakhstan-Russia post-Soviet relations, which emphasizes the key agreements reached in different areas throughout the period 1991-2012. In Kazakhstan, according to the position of several scholars, multiethnicity and multidirectional foreign policy coexist. Kazakhstan's postulates, related to the official multidimensional national policy, have had similar expression in its foreign policy, but have been realized more vividly. After 1992, many academics and commentators claimed that, with the collapse of the USSR, Russia's foreign policy would be characterized by an increased level of cooperation with The United States of America (USA) and the West; to a large extent, this is precisely what occurred, at least initially.
