7 January 2022

(quote)
Knowledge of Kazakhstan in the West is extremely slim, particularly among
western media, and many responses to events there have been wildly off-beam.

The narrative on the right is that Putin is looking to annex Kazakhstan, or at
least the majority ethnic Russian areas in the north. This is utter nonsense.

The narrative on the left is that the CIA is attempting to instigate another
colour revolution and put a puppet regime into Nur-Sultan (as the capital is
called this week). This also is utter nonsense.

The lack of intellectual flexibility among western commentators entrapped in the
confines of their own culture wars is a well-established feature of modern
political society. Distorting a picture into this frame is not so easily
detectable where the public have no idea what the picture normally looks like,
as with Kazakhstan.

...

The fuel price rises triggered protest, and once a population that had seen no
outlet for its frustration viewed the chance to protest, then popular
frustration erupted into popular dissent. However with no popular opposition
leaders to direct it, this quickly became an incoherent boiling up of rage,
resulting in destruction and looting.

So where do the CIA come in? They don't. They were trying to groom a banned
opposition leader (whose name I recall as Kozlov, but that may be wrong) but
then discovered he was not willing to be their puppet, and the scheme was
abandoned under Trump. The CIA were as taken aback by events as everybody else,
and they don't have any significant resources on the ground, or a Juan Gaido to
jet in.
(/quote)
-- Cont'd https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2022/01/what-kazakhstan-isnt/