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Kazakstan
Military Doctrine
In 1992 Kazakstan adopted a three-stage defense doctrine, calling
for creation of administrative, command, and support organizations
in 1992, restructuring of field forces between 1993 and 1996,
and a modernization process leading to establishment of a fully
professional military force by 2000. In 1992 Minister of Defense
Sagadat Nurmagambetov abandoned the last goal as impractical,
calling rather for a combination of conscripts and contract service
personnel. In the summer of 1994, Kazakstan's Institute for Strategic
Studies called for the complete abandonment of the official defense
doctrine. The existing doctrine was criticized for being based
on outmoded Soviet precepts that combined fear of hostile military
encirclement with a commitment to peace that approached pacificism.
The institute argued that Kazakstan should instead base its
defense policies on the assumption that the republic likely would
find itself amid border confrontations involving CIS nations,
an expansionist China, and Islamic neighbors with enhanced power
and ambition. To prepare for such events, the institute recommended
de-emphasizing military development and instead pursuing multinational
defense agreements along the lines of Nazarbayev's proposed Euro-Asian
Union or, absent that, a military alliance with Russia and active
pursuit of NATO membership. Kazakstan became a member of NATO's
Partnership for Peace in 1994.
Following the appearance of the institute's evaluation, the
Ministry of Defense has acknowledged that the second of its original
goals--restructuring of field forces by 1996--likely could not
be achieved. This admission meant that Kazakstan's dependence
upon Russia likely would become even greater. In January 1995,
the two countries signed agreements committing them to creation
of "unified armed forces." To deflect criticism that such an agreement
was inimical to national sovereignty, Nazarbayev likened the new
arrangement to the Warsaw Pact and NATO, as distinct from the
formation of a single armed force. At the same time, Russia formally
took up shared responsibility for patrol of Kazakstan's international
borders (under a nominally joint command), which in practice meant
the border with China.
Data as of March 1996
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