Current Geopolitical Position
In 1979, oil deposits were discovered at Tengiz fields in the North Caspian Sea. This discovery has always attracted investors from Asia and Europe. In this regard, illegal immigration has been one of the major problems that the officials of Kazakh have to deal with if they are to preserve the interests of the state. During the post-Soviet era, oil was exploited in large quantities, which boosted the economy. Moreover, capitalism took root since individuals had sufficient capital to spend liberally. The US has always had close relations with Kazakhstan, following constant conflicts witnessed in the Middle East and the rising costs of petroleum products (Hiro, 2009).
Since Kazakhstan is one of the landlocked countries, it depends on its neighbors for the transfer of oil products from exploration fields to the global markets. This poses a great challenge to the policymakers given the fact that they have to design policies that are favorable to their neighbors. The states that own pipelines have massive influence over the production in the country. The country’s economy depends on oil, which means that the government cannot operate without its neighbors. Recently, various world powers, including China, Russia, Iran, and the United States, have tried to control the pipelines that transport oil from Kazakhstan to the global market.
This has resulted in conflicts because each power wishes to own part of the pipeline. Russia has traditionally owned the pipeline while China is promising to construct new pipelines. On its part, Iran wishes to pump oil from Kazakhstan to the eastern part in order to bolster its economy. The United States has proposed a different strategy that would allow oil products to reach the global market without necessarily going through Iran, Russia, and China. In this regard, resource availability in Kazakhstan is a curse because it presents serious challenges to the state policymakers (Rashid, 2008).
Role of the Intelligence Officer in Engaging Kazakhstan
The main role of the intelligence officer would be to advise the government on the best policy to apply in the region, which would allow the state to achieve its national interests. The United States relies heavily on foreign oil meaning that policies made should be based on this reality. The US should always formulate policies that would help it achieve its national interests. In this regard, the intelligence analyst should provide adequate information to the government regarding Kazakhstan.
According to the realists, national interests will always drive the foreign policymaking process of any state. Studies show that the US has only two percent of the world’s oil yet it consumes over twenty-five percent of the oil produced globally. The US cannot afford to sideline Kazakhstan because of its oil deposits. Therefore, it should always ensure that democracy prevails in the region because. However, this should be handled with care since it might be the source of conflicts, which might strain the relationship between the United States and the government of Kazakhstan. If unfriendly regimes were allowed to assume power, the US would not obtain oil from the region easily.
Kazakhstan is the only country in the region that enjoys political stability. Nevertheless, the country is friendly to the United States, given the fact that it does not oppose US policies. Even though the country’s leadership is supporting the US mission, the owners of the pipeline are hostile to the relationships between the two countries. To resolve this problem, the United States should suggest the construction of a pipeline that would distribute oil products to all parts of the world without necessarily going through Russia. It should never force the government of Kazakhstan to engage in political and social reforms because this would affect the relationships. Reforms would not serve the interests of the US, but instead, it would spoil the productive diplomatic relations between the two states (Oliker, 2003).
Since the major interest of the United States is to access oil and prevent the spread of weapons of mass destruction, the intelligence officer would have the responsibility of evaluating the security of the region. For instance, the presence of weapons of mass destruction would be the priority. During the Cold War, the country was one of the Soviet Union members. When the Soviet Union disintegrated, Kazakhstan was left with a number of nuclear energy plants.
Statistics show that the country could be having over one thousand two hundred nuclear-related plants. The main aim would be to prevent nuclear energy from getting into the hands of terrorists. The country is predominantly Islam, even though extremism and radicalism are not allowed in the country. In this regard, the analyst representing the United States would be aspiring to convince the country to put in place measures that would discourage terrorism.
If terrorists manage to access nuclear energy, they would use it to manufacture weapons of mass destruction, which would be disastrous to the world, including the United States. Therefore, the United States should always embrace Kazakhstan by keeping off from activities that would strain the relationships between the two countries. For instance, the United States should never force the leadership of the country to implement reforms, but instead, they should be convinced to do so through other means (Laruelle, 2012). Democracy and open governance would be some of the factors that would allow the state to manage its affairs effectively.
The geopolitical analysis shows that China and Russia are the major international forces that influence politics in the region. The United States should come up with strategies that would minimize the influence of the two countries in the region. Recently, China came up with a program that would help Kazakhstan construct a pipeline from the Chinese border to the Caspian Sea. This means that oil will be flowing from Kazakhstan to the external market through China.
This would definitely interfere with the interests of the United States regarding oil access. To counter this, the United States needs to seek help from its European allies, such as Britain and France, since they are close to Kazakhstan. Britain and France would use their influence in the European Union to lure Kazakhstan to their side. Russia is very powerful in the region meaning that it controls regional politics.
In this case, it would be difficult for the United States to achieve its interests given the fact that Russia is its longest adversary. However, the US can use its global influence to entice Kazakhstan using foreign direct investment and aid. For instance, the United States should enter into a bilateral trade agreement with the Kazakh government. This would allow the United States to fund some of the expensive projects that China and Russia would consider unreasonable since it would not profitable.
References
Hiro, D. (2009). Inside Central Asia. New York: Overlook Duckworth.
Laruelle, M. (2012). Russian Eurasianism: An ideology of empire. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Oliker, O. (2003). Faultlines of conflict in Central Asia and the south Caucasus: Implications for the U.S. Army. Santa Monica, CA: RAND.
Rashid, A. (2008). Descent into Chaos. New York: Viking Juvenile.