On the 19th of July, 1990, the President of the Kazakh SSR, Nursultan Nazarbayev visited Washington – the capital of the United States, where he met with Brent Scowcroft, the assistant to the President for National Security Affairs and other political figures who were the foundation of the Kazakh-American cooperation before the independence of one of the nations. This historical moment has an enormous impact on the Kazakh-American relations, and started numerous collaborative programs that aimed at increasing the quality of education and re-evaluation of the mentality of residents of both countries.
Diplomatic relations of the Kazakhstan Republic and the United States of America began with shared values as fast-developing economic partnership between countries of eagles. Moreover, joint steps in disarmament and limiting arms, it is a primary mission that turned into the groundwork bilateral diplomacy of lands of freedom. Also, besides being free as country, the USA and Kazakhstan have a lot of joint projects that have massive impact on diverse spheres of activities as education, civil responsibility and culture. Therefore, two states’ governments were sought to cultural exchange. A clear example of that, is a social media and web-culture. The internet being available around the world, presented to lot of its users, the cultural diversity between ethnical groups of earth. The video hosting service that called YouTube affected me, young person from an industrial city. When I was 7 years old, this type of social network was my introducer to the American modern culture, including geography, history, art, education. It motivated me to study the most spoken language of the world and understand the mentality of the American people. Perhaps, there is a peer from another part of the world, who become fascinated by Kazakh culture and have huge potential to add value for the diplomacy, due to availability of information. It is not about one side teaching the other, it is the digital bridge as cooperation in programs and internet by politics and younger generations.
However, freedom and education are not enough for a prosperous partnership. My personal commitment to civic responsibility was tested when I traveled hundreds of kilometers from my hometown to the capital, to participate in volunteer cleanup which was organized by western partners. Working side-by-side with people from different continents and cultures, I realized that civic duty has universal values and no borders. This activity gave me experience that allowed me to see how western approaches to environmental stewardship can be implemented locally. After all, I am convinced that these same values of proactive citizenship are the groundwork of the Kazakh-American relationship, by sharing such experiences in educational and social projects, our nations can move beyond official and formal treaties to genuine people-to-people partnership.
Despite the geographical distance, these nations share a commitment to the essential pillars of bilateral development in freedom, civic responsibility and education. From my perspective as youth, future relationships between the United States and Kazakhstan – is that one which will lead to deep transcultural understanding fostered by energy of youth.