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🇰🇿 Kazakhstan /Economy & Trade

IFIMES Expert: Kazakhstan’s ‘Strategic Redundancy’ Is Reshaping Its Role in Eurasia

From The Astana Times · () English

Summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Interview Named sources Context piece
  • IFIMES director Zijad Bećirović says Kazakhstan is pursuing a foreign-policy model he calls “strategic redundancy,” built around multiple relationships and routes.
  • He argues that Europe and Central Asia should give their dialogue greater economic substance through investment, technology transfer and long-term partnerships.
  • Bećirović links the approach to potential cooperation between Kazakhstan and Slovenian engineering company RIKO in energy, infrastructure, industry, environmental technology and water management.

Kazakhstan is not simply balancing between competing powers, according to Zijad Bećirović. It is building what the IFIMES director calls “strategic redundancy,” a foreign-policy model based on multiple political, economic, diplomatic, energy and transport options.

The aim is to reduce dependence while maintaining constructive relations across geopolitical divides. Bećirović said resilience increasingly depends on having alternatives that can support one another when international conditions change. He described the approach as increasingly relevant in a more fragmented and unpredictable global environment.

His assessment came during a visit to Kazakhstan with Janez Škrabec, founder and director of Slovenia-based engineering company RIKO. Bećirović presented the visit as part of a broader effort to connect political dialogue with practical economic cooperation.

This is a highly sophisticated approach to international relations.

· Zijad BećirovićHe described Kazakhstan’s strategy of maintaining multiple political, economic and diplomatic options.

He said IFIMES believes economic diplomacy should complement political and security discussions. In his view, strategic relationships become sustainable when political understanding turns into concrete economic interests, investment, technology transfer and long-term partnerships. The institute has held Special Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council since 2018 and publishes the journal European Perspectives.

Bećirović described RIKO as one of Slovenia’s most internationally recognized engineering companies. Its expertise includes engineering, advanced technologies, project management and implementation, which he said could support Kazakhstan’s priorities in energy, infrastructure, industry, environmental technologies and water management.

We increasingly believe that economic diplomacy should complement political and security dialogue. In the current geopolitical environment, strategic relationships become sustainable when political understanding is translated into concrete economic interests, investment, technology transfer and long-term partnerships.

· Zijad BećirovićHe explained why economic cooperation should accompany political and security relations.
About this summary

Originally published by The Astana Times. Summarized and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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