ABSTRACT
Kazakhstan is one of the countries on the OBOR route and the relevant question is, therefore, whether and how this country can be considered a stable and trustful partner in OBOR in economic and socio-political terms? The socio-economic changes since the collapse of the socialist system in the early 1990s contributed to the rise of organized crime and corruption in Kazakhstan, similar to the other post-Soviet republics. The specific characteristics of the criminal world of Kazakhstan will be analyzed from cultural and historical perspectives. This chapter will present the sophisticated hierarchical structure of organized crime in Kazakhstan, its multiethnic character and the interrelationships inside the organization and with the outside world. It also shows how members of transnational organized crime, in particular those who specialize in drug trafficking, human trafficking, and smuggling, take advantage of the state’s key geographic position, the long border line with Russia, the large natural wild marijuana valleys, and local political and economic problems in transitioning states like Kazakhstan and its neighbors.
