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Abstract

Landlocked in the heart of Central Asia, Kazakhstan is involved in regional partnerships, even if the pressure to take a stand between Russia, China and the European Union is strong. This cocktail is the challenge of so-called middle power, as a country developing multi-factor diplomacy.

Since February 2022, the Belt and Road Initiative, China’s connectivity project, no longer pass through Russia. And Kazakhstan is at the centre of the EU-funded Asia-Europe Transport Road. This is one example where the economy, originally considered by Joseph Nye as a resource of hard power, becomes a factor of attractiveness and image for a country.

In the context of multilateralism, it is necessary to structure actions for a convergence between its interests and those of the partners rather than on an ideology. And beyond this community, by the public, which comes down to finding its place on the world map in the long term, when the country becomes known and better identified. Middle-power countries must balance their national interests, common international challenges and building alliances and coalitions.

The second axe of the identity building relies on Russia’s colonial past in Central Asian countries. The war is accelerating awareness of the social and political influences imposed by Russia and the Soviet Union. It takes on two dimensions: the colonial and post-colonial dimension of the Russian presence and the reflection on the founding elements of Kazakh culture and identity.

Movements of fragmentation, separation and reactivation between old and new political protagonists began and continue today. The 21st century inherits these complex paths, torn by often antagonistic visions and actors, to deal with the myths and narratives of nation states, between identity and politics in spaces with known, digitised boundaries.

A proactive diplomatic discourse, with the construction of an identity emerging from a colonial past, forms the dominant axis of our observations. Kazakhstan conducts its communication to promote these registers, and, in terms of culture or economy, the country aims to diversify its relations to stabilise its rentier economy and forge links with other regions of the world. Interviews and fieldwork in Brussels reveal that (by active participation to events by Kazakh embassy and the 4 other), a system is in place to help ‘put the country on the map’ and to engage with different audiences on social media.

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This paper examines how and why new media are used by young people in political participation in rural areas of Kazakhstan. Drawing on Qualtrics surveys (n=400), semi-structured interviews (n=13), and focus groups (n=5) conducted in three villages (poselki) in Kazakhstan, Aiteke Bi, Maqat, and Tobyl, between July 2019 and November 2020, I demonstrate how and why young villagers use new media as ‘political spectators’ and ‘virtual agora’. My results show that the number of online activists and observers is growing in all three villages; however, according to the lived-experiences and viewpoints of my respondents, apolitical people predominate. While investigating these usages, I also found that new media enhances young people’s ‘political tool kit’ (political interest, political knowledge, political efficacy, and political standpoint) in villages owing to the Internet, social media, and digital tools. This enhancement in the form of civic engagement is crucial for new-media-led political participation. The study sheds light on how and why new media are used in rural digital political participation, advancing our knowledge of non-Western political systems.

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This study examines how the emergence of "new" media, namely the Internet and social networks, influences perceptions of politics in the countries of Central Asia and the Caucasus. We explore the role of mass media in the public and political spheres, their association with electoral behavior, and their contribution to political mobilization. Data from large-scale quantitative surveys conducted in five countries of Central Asia and the Caucasus (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Georgia) in December 2023 are utilized in this research.

We focus our attention on the countries of South and Central Asia, a region known to be one of the least democratic in the world. According to V-Dem, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan are classified as electoral autocracies and closed autocracies. Georgia is among the 3% of countries in this region classified as electoral democracies. In this article, we conduct a comparative analysis of five countries—electoral autocracies, closed autocracies, and electoral democracies—and examine how the media context shapes political values and norms associated with habitus.

Our research is based on proprietary, unique data. For the first time in the countries of Central Asia and the Caucasus, such a comprehensive study on media consumption and political values has been conducted. Quantitative data on this topic have already been collected in Kazakhstan, as well as in other countries of this region. Data collection projects such as the World Values Survey (WVS) and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES) are underway in the countries of Central Asia and the Caucasus. A unique comparative study on media consumption and protest activity was conducted by a group of researchers including Bekmagambetov A., Gainous, J., and others in the countries of Central Asia. The uniqueness of our study lies in its comprehensive nature; we compare not only the countries of Central Asia (electoral and closed autocracies) but also conduct a comparative analysis including Georgia (an electoral democracy). Additionally, we meticulously and thoroughly examine the media context in these countries, studying in more detail the popularity of various media resources and analyzing the discourses created by mass media—such as support for war, anti-Americanism, and others. Furthermore, we delve more deeply into political values and perceptions of local and global politics.