ABSTRACT
Kazakhstan, the biggest Central Asian state according to land mass, has emerged towards one of the economically most successful and politically most stable states in the post-Soviet space since its independence in 1991. Owing to its outstanding economic performance (compared to other countries in the region) and its geographical location between the great powers, Russia and China, on the one hand and the structurally weak Southern cone of post-Soviet space on the other, Kazakhstan has become the most important strategic partner of the West in Central Asia. Supported by European states and the USA, Kazakhstan increasingly cultivates the self-perception of a new leading power in the post-Soviet space. 1
