Director Joseph Epstein spoke with Viktor Mailin of the Kazakhstani outlet Check-Point.kz about what a visiting U.S. congressional delegation's trip means for the relationship between Washington and Astana — a visit timed to coincide with elections for Kazakhstan's new unicameral parliament.
Epstein argued that the composition of the delegation mattered as much as its presence: it included the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, the body that would have to act to remove Kazakhstan from the Jackson-Vanik amendment. "Congress controls two things no president can provide on his own: the federal budget and U.S. trade legislation," he said, while cautioning that a visit is not yet a vote.
He laid out three areas where legislative engagement could matter: trade (removing Jackson-Vanik requires an act of Congress), investment financing (bringing U.S. capital into projects like the Cove Kaz tungsten mine and Middle Corridor connectivity), and historical precedent — the Nunn-Lugar program, a congressional initiative that helped dismantle Kazakhstan's Soviet-era nuclear arsenal. He proposed a standing "Kurultai-Congress" group for regular delegation exchanges.
On Kazakhstan's political modernization, Epstein said institutional reform matters differently across sectors: a single oil major can operate within a specially negotiated framework, but building a diversified portfolio of critical-minerals projects requires the whole system to function well. He was more measured on security cooperation, noting real constraints from Kazakhstan's CSTO membership and its ties to Russia, while pointing to genuine openings in counterterrorism and nonproliferation.
Asked about Kazakhstan's multi-vector foreign policy, Epstein pushed back on the idea that it amounts to a balancing act: "The United States isn't competing to be Kazakhstan's main partner. It's competing against exclusivity." In his view, Kazakhstan's independent posture only raises its value to Washington — as an anchor state for the Middle Corridor, a source of critical minerals, and a model of a sovereign Central Asian state.
Read the full interview on Check-Pointkz (Russian).
Joseph Epstein is Director of the Turan Research Center.