Opportunity and threat perceptions of the EU in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan
Arynov Z.
2022Routledge
Central Asian Survey
2022#41Issue 4734 - 751 pp.
In Central Asia the European Union (EU) positions itself as a benign and gentle actor with no geopolitical intentions. But is this self-prescribed image of a ‘force for good’ shared by Central Asians? To answer this question, the article scrutinizes whether the EU is perceived as posing a threat to or offering an opportunity in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Theoretically it is argued that the EU cannot unilaterally claim a certain role in the region; rather, perceptions held by Central Asians partly determine what kind of actor the EU can be and what kind of policies it can successfully implement. The article finds that opportunity/threat perceptions are highly issue specific. Depending on a particular issue area, the EU’s image may change from that of an opportunity to a threat, or vice versa. Yet, the opportunity aspect visibly prevails in both countries, which can be regarded as the EU’s comparative advantage vis-à-vis other actors in the region.
Central Asia , European Union , image , perception , threat/opportunity
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Graduate School of Public Policy, Nazarbayev University, Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan
Graduate School of Public Policy
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