This comment lacks nuance and is brim with sarcasm. Understanding geopolitics is an exercise nuance. Kazakhstan has to deal with huge and strong foreign adver

This comment lacks nuance and is brim with sarcasm. Understanding geopolitics is an exercise nuance. Kazakhstan has to deal with huge and strong foreign adversaries, and has no strong alliances, yet must protect distant cities which all border China, Russia, and central asian nations, with a large desert in the center. It is militarily indefensible and Russia, Turkey, Pakistan, and the US, all want Kazakhstan's resources and strategically located bases. Contrary to your sentiment, Kazakhstan has been conducting de-Russianification with the deployment of language police to stop people from using Russian, and switching from the Cyrillic alphabet to the latin one. Below is an excellent article describing all the different pressures on the country and how it tries to balance foreign influences. https://globalcomment.com/is-russia-losing-or-tightening-its-grip-on-kazakhstan/ https://globalcomment.com/is-russia-losing-or-tightening-its... Interestingly, the most violent and organized protests are occurring in the South bordering China and Kyrgystan - a city which has people selling gov't subsidized cheap gas over the border in China on the black market for a 300% profit. That might be a big source for the organized violence. Curbing black market sales was the point of the change that sparked the unrest. Regardless of the cause, it is likely Russia is going to capitalize on this turmoil and provide continuity for the current President, by extracting some allegiance.