Genesis of the Eurasian Idea and Eurasian Practice in the Republic of Kazakhstan

The idea of creating the Eurasian Union belongs to the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev. Until 2011, this initiative was popular in the academic and expert community of Kazakhstan. There has been a groundswell of support. It was partially embodied in the foundation of such regional organizations as the Eurasian Economic Community, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and the Collective Security Treaty Organization. Astana has lost leadership in promoting Eurasian integration since 2011. Although Kazakhstan is an active participant in the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), the initiative is gradually being transferred to the Russian Federation. This article is devoted to the analysis of the genesis of the Eurasian idea and Eurasian practice in Kazakhstan, highlighting the qualitative stages in the dissemination of the ideas of Eurasianism and Eurasian integration in Kazakhstan. Comparative analysis, event analysis, political monitoring and process of tracking were used in the article. The authors conclude that the ideological content of Eurasianism in Kazakhstan has undergone a certain genesis and has almost exhausted itself at this stage. Kazakhstan has now taken a stand on rigid economic determinism in the implementation of the EAEU project and has moved away from the broad set of tasks of Eurasian integration, as originally presented by N. Nazarbayev. This is largely due to the internal political development of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the changes in the ethnic composition of the population, the arrival of a new generation of managers, the beginning of a new stage in the formation of a national state and nation-building, which are reflected in new conceptual documents and national programs. At the same time, it was Eurasianism that corresponded to the specifics of Kazakhstani society and contributed to interethnic interaction and harmony, just as at this stage, Eurasian integration helps to preserve Kazakhstan’s sovereignty and strengthen its position in the system of global economic relations. However, there is a significant conceptual and semantic gap in understanding the essence of Eurasianism and the current practice of building a sustainable Eurasian integration core, an active participant of which Kazakhstan could become.