Kazakhstani foreign policy in the pre-Eurasianist era

Scene-setting is the main purpose of this chapter, which directs the reader’s attention to the main constituting elements of Kazakhstan’s pre-Eurasianist foreign policy. To this end, Chapter 1 focuses on the economic unionism that so profoundly influenced Kazakhstan’s international standing in 1991–1993. In introducing the study of continuity and change in Kazakhstani foreign policy-making—one of the book’s fundamental concerns—this chapter argues that early foreign policy, while failing to colour its integrationist inclination with Eurasianist tones, pursued a series of policy strands that re-emerged to characterise Kazakhstan’s international activity after the launch of the evraziiskaya strategiya in 1994.