No Central Asian nation has attracted the attention from the world’s most powerful military organization as Kazakhstan has. In 1996, Kazakhstan signed a security agreement with NATO, and this step provided strong impetus to military cooperation and gave Astana a sense of security in this largely hostile environment. Last December, Kazakh Foreign Minister Kassymdzhomart Tokayev visited NATO Headquarters in Brussels, and Kazakh members of parliament received observer status at NATO’s Parliamentary Assembly.

However, opinions are split over the future shape of Kazakhstan’s cooperation with NATO, particularly in view of the escalating military clashes in Afghanistan and Iraq. The initial enthusiasm over the military might of North Atlantic Alliance and its image as a reliable safeguard against extremism and terrorism seems to be gradually replaced by uneasy feelings about NATO’s true intentions in Central Asia. Most analysts believe that Kazakhstan currently is the only country in the region ready to wholeheartedly embrace any sort of partnership with NATO. The North Atlantic Alliance cannot be happy either with Uzbekistan, which stifles democracy in open defiance of Western concept of human rights, or with the closed regime of Turkmen leader Saparmurad Niyazov. As for Kyrgyzstan, President Kurmanbek Bakiyev may seek some form of cooperation within the Partnership For Peace program to secure its amorphous borders, constantly threatened by militants of Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, and to get his country’s shattered economy back on its feet.

But Kazakhstan’s motives for developing a military alliance with NATO seem to be ambivalent and highly controversial. A well-known political analyst and retired colonel, Azimbai Gali, believes that Kazakhstan must not limit its cooperation with NATO to Partnership For Peace program and routine joint military exercises, but set the goal of joining NATO as a full-fledged member in view of the potential military threats from Russia, Iran, China and Uzbekistan. The analyst thinks that the United States and Western states would like to use Kazakhstan as a tool to deter Russian and Chinese drive in Central Asia and keep Iran at bay in the Caspian region.

Opposing views are expressed mostly by Soviet-era military brass, notably by former defense minister General Sagadat Nurmaganbetov, who flatly rejects any idea of Kazakhstan’s NATO membership. In his article in the nationalist paper Zhas Qazaq, he airs the view that Kazakhstan should avoid close cooperation with NATO and approach Russia as a long-term military ally. In his view, any partnership or cooperation with NATO is bound to tie Kazakhstan to unacceptable political commitments and drive a wedge between Russia and Kazakhstan.

Another source of concern are talks on sending Kazakh troops to Afghanistan, reportedly being conducted between the militaries of the United States and Kazakhstan. Although Kazakh military forces are not expected to be involved in combat activities within the ISAF troops and should be employed in construction works, observers fear that troops may become an easy target for terrorists and that casualties would be unavoidable. This information leaked to the press from government sources last week, but the Defense Ministry is yet to responded.

Whatever form the public reaction to Kazakhstan’s growing cooperation with western military organizations may take, Astana seems set to develop its ties with NATO. This attitude was clearly expressed by President Nazarbayev, who stressed in Brussels that military cooperation with NATO was indispensable for Kazakhstan to build up its military forces and that his country would continue to work in that direction. These words imply that Kazakh and NATO troops will continue military exercises to raise the levels of interoperability of the troops, and that Kazakhstan will be offered an opportunity to increase its defense standards with the help of the North Atlantic Alliance. That is a goal worth turning a deaf ear to some grumblings from military quarters.