/im-463330.jpg "Protests first triggered by rising fuel prices in Kazakhstan have turned violent, prompting a Russian-led military coalition to send troops to the oil-rich country. Photo: Mariya Gordeyeva/Reuters")
Ever since becoming Kazakhstan’s first president in 1990, Nursultan Nazarbayev steered the country along two tracks.
At home, he oversaw moves to strengthen the Kazakh identity and weaken Russia’s historic influence. In foreign and defense policy, however, he hewed close to the Kremlin, assuring Russia that Kazakhstan would always remain a strategic ally.
