4 ms·
I suggest you look up the history of Kazakhstan's capital move. Capital moves are often used by authoritarian leaders to consolidate their power by using the mo
by zucker42 6y ago
I suggest you look up the history of Kazakhstan's capital move. Capital moves are often used by authoritarian leaders to consolidate their power by using the move as an excuse to punish and reward underlings, isolating themselves from threats to their power, and using geography to keep politically influential people under their control.
- Mediterraneo10 6y agoThe move of the capital from Almaty to Astana wasn’t just about Nazarbaev increasing his own personal power. It was also an attempt to keep the country viable in its current borders by lowering the chances of the ethnic-Russian-dominated north seceding. Also, most of Kazakhstan's political elite continued to reside in Almaty and just flew back and forth from the new capital for business, so Astana wasn't even an example of a capital built to secure the rulers from the population.