Identity Perception and Behavioural Choices in the Pursuit of Middle Power Status:Practice and Effectiveness of Kazakhstan
Middle powers are important forces in international relations.The world's political turbulence and disordered global governance have led some countries to pursue middle-power status as their main objective and,in turn,to exert influence in specific issue areas and regional affairs.After independence,Kazakhstan's accumulated material resources in terms of population,economy,and military power have strengthened its power base for pursuing the status of a middle power.At the same time,the incipient mechanisms of regional cooperation among the Central Asian countries have further increased Kazakhstan's willingness to pursue the status of a middle power.In addition,the intensification of the interaction of the major powers in Central Asia provides Kazakhstan with an opportunity to achieve this goal.At the diplomatic level,Kazakhstan has followed a foreign policy of multivector diplomacy,which seeks international recognition of its status as a middle power through the practice of diplomacy in a variety of political,economic,cultural and global governance spheres.Based on the academic assessment of the middle power status,this study evaluates the effectiveness of Kazakhstan's diplomatic practice in pursuing the status of a middle power in four dimensions:functional,behavioral,hierarchical,and conceptual,finding that Kazakhstan is not a middle power in the full sense of the word,and that it faces the constraints of a variety of domestic and foreign factors,which poses an important challenge in the pursuit of the status of a middle power.
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