Wednesday, january 17, 2017 inside nation healthcare minister reports on new infrastructure development plan A2

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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 17, 2017

EDITORIAL&OPINION

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Kazakhstan 2018

By Dr. Lisa Williams

A total of 138 out of 193 countries voted in 

June 2016 for Kazakhstan to become a non-

permanent member of the United Nations Se-

curity  Council  (UNSC),  making  its  the  first 

Central Asian country to serve in the pres-

tigious position. Kazakhstan’s two-year term 

began in January 2017. In January 2018, Ka-

zakhstan has assumed the rotating presidency 

of the UNSC. Kazakhstan’s Senate Chairman 

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev noted “this event 

is an historic victory for Kazakhstan…made 

possible by the international authority of Pres-

ident Nursultan Nazarbayev.” I agree.

The purpose of the UNSC is to maintain in-

ternational peace and security. Kazakhstan’s 

Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov de-

livered President Nazarbayev’s Policy Ad-

dress to the UNSC in January 2017. Entitled 

“Kazakhstan’s Concept Vision on Sustain-

ing Global Partnership for a Secure, Just and 

Prosperous World,” the address focused on a 

wide range of security issues including Syria, 

Afghanistan, Africa, the Palestinian-Israeli 

conflict,  and  the  denuclearization  of  the  Ko-

rean peninsula. Kazakhstan is also focusing on 

food, water and energy security at the UNSC.

But, along with these important initiatives, 

Kazakhstan will ring in 2018 with a renewed 

focus on nuclear security. Unlike any other 

permanent or nonpermanent member state on 

the UNSC, only Kazakhstan has the political 

legitimacy to lead the world on the issue of 

nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation.

What sets Kazakhstan apart on the UN Se-

curity Council is President Nazarbayev. In 

1991, following the collapse of the Soviet 

Union, President Nazarbayev made a decision 

to dismantle the nuclear arsenal it had inher-

ited from the USSR. That decision changed 

the course of history – and continues to be a 

course that all other nations should follow.

From 1949-1989, the Soviet Union used 

Kazakhstan as a nuclear testing ground. The 

Soviets exploded their first nuclear bomb on 

August 29, 1949 at the Semipalatinsk Test Site 

in the eastern part of Kazakhstan. The test was 

code-named “First Lightning” by the Soviets 

and Joe-1 by the West, in reference to Joseph 

Stalin. The Soviets went on to explode another 

455 nuclear bombs at Semipalatinsk. It is es-

timated that the cumulative effect of those ex-

plosions was equivalent to the power of 2,500 

Hiroshima-sized bombs.

I have been to the Semipalatinsk Test Site 

with the late Congressman Eni F.H. Faleoma-

vaega who was the Chairman of the influen-

tial U.S. House of Representatives’ Foreign 

Affairs  Subcommittee  on  Asia,  the  Pacific 

and the Global Environment and also the first 

American lawmaker to set foot at ground zero 

in Semipalatinsk. During his tenure in Con-

gress, Faleomavaega was an advocate for nu-

clear nonproliferation and consistently praised 

President Nazarbayev for his choice to re-

nounce nuclear weaponry.

The late Congressman Faleomavaega once 

stated, “My position regarding this matter is 

no different than the position the United States 

took during a joint meeting between President 

Obama and President Nazarbayev on April 11, 

2010 when President Obama stated that ‘the 

U.S. appreciates the leadership of President 

Nazarbayev and the contribution of Kazakh-

stan to nuclear disarmament and nonprolifera-

tion’” – a view also held by former President 

George W. Bush and now by U.S. Secretary of 

State Rex Tillerson.

On April 6, 2010, President Obama stated 

that “the United States will not conduct nu-

clear testing and  will seek ratification of  the 

Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT)” 

which bans all nuclear explosions in all en-

vironments. While Obama was applauded 

for his efforts, Congressman Faleomavaega 

agreed with President Nazarbayev – that the 

time had come to move from a nuclear test ban 

to a nuclear weapons-free world.

Simply put, nuclear weapons are horrific. As 

a result of Soviet nuclear testing, more than 

1.5 million Kazakhs were exposed to nuclear 

radiation. From 1946-1958, the United States 

conducted 67 nuclear tests in the Republic of 

the Marshall Islands (RMI) with an equivalent 

yield of 7,000 Hiroshima bombs. The Mar-

shallese people, like the people of Semipal-

atinsk, suffer from nuclear fallout to this day. 

“Neither the Soviet Union nor the U.S. have 

fulfilled  their  obligation  in  cleaning  up  the 

mess they left behind as a result of their Cold 

War arms race,” Congressman Faleomavaega 

stated.

And now, the DPRK is threatening to launch 

nuclear weapons. Kazakhstan rightly and with 

authority “calls upon all member states to ap-

ply every effort in resolving this troubling 

situation,” Foreign Minister Abdrakhmanov 

recently said. “Achieving this goal requires, 

above  all,  intensified  dialogue  between  all 

stakeholders in regional and global security.” 

For the long-term, the only solution is the one 

President Nazarbayev has already put forward 

– a universal ban on nuclear weapons. The late 

Congressman Faleomavaega so strongly sup-

ported the idea that he included the following 

remarks in the United States of America Con-

gressional Record:

“I believe it is time to move from a nucle-

ar test ban to a nuclear weapons-free world. 

After all, the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty 

(CTBT),  like  the  Nuclear  Non-Proliferation 

Treaty (NPT), is based on a flawed and out-

dated premise. The NPT asserts that only five 

nations – the nuclear weapons states – name-

ly, the United States, Russia, the United King-

dom, France, and China (which also happen 

to be the five permanent members of the United 

Nations Security Council) – will pursue nucle-

ar disarmament and share their technology for 

peaceful purposes if non-nuclear states agree 

never  to  acquire  nuclear  weapons.  The  NPT 

also states that only the United States, Russia, 

the United Kingdom, China, and France are 

permitted  to  own  nuclear  weapons  because 

only  they  possessed  nuclear  weapons  at  the 

time the treaty was open for signature in 1968.

But the world has changed since 1968. No 

longer  can  non-nuclear  states  support  the 

outdated premise of the NPT and none of us 

should  settle  for  what  the  CTBT  offers,  par-

ticularly since the signatories of the NPT are 

among the worst violators of the nuclear code.

From  1949-1990,  Russia  conducted  over 

700  nuclear  tests.  In  roughly  the  same  time 

period, the U.S. conducted over 1,000 nuclear 

tests. Since 1964, China has conducted more 

than 43 nuclear tests. Between 1960 and 1991, 

France conducted more than 200 nuclear tests 

and, in 1996, despite being a signatory of the 

NPT, France broke a world moratorium con-

ducting 6 more tests at Moruroa Atoll in the 

South  Pacific  while  the  Nuclear  Suppliers 

Group (NSG) silently consented.

It is time for all of us to say enough is enough. 

It is time for the world to follow Kazakhstan’s 

lead and begin the process of dismantling. If 

Kazakhstan can dismantle a nuclear arsenal 

which was larger than the combined nuclear 

arsenals of Great Britain, France and China 

combined,  then  certainly  the  United  States, 

Russia,  the  United  Kingdom,  France,  and 

China can also do what is right.

Some  twenty  years  ago,  President  Naz-

arbayev  emerged  to  champion  the  cause  of 

a  nuclear  weapons-free  world,  and  no  other 

leader before or since has done what he has 

done to advance the rights of the human per-

son by promoting nuclear disarmament among 

possessor states and preventing proliferation 

to new states.

As  President  Loeak  of  the  Republic  of  the 

Marshall  Islands  stated,  ‘Had  Kazakhstan 

retained the nuclear arsenal it inherited after 

achieving independence and following the col-

lapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Kazakhstan 

could have altered the fragile peace brought 

about by the Cold War. But knowing the price 

Kazakhs  and  Marshallese  paid  to  preserve 

international  peace,  President  Nazarbayev 

chose to renounce and disarm.’

For  this,  President  Nazarbayev  should  be 

commended  again  and  again.  I  commend 

President  Nazarbayev  for  his  initiative  to 

move the world from a nuclear test ban to a 

nuclear weapons-free world – and it is my sin-

cere hope that we will hold together and stand 

firm in our support of this great cause.’”

If not for his untimely passing in February 

2017, I am certain the Honorable Eni F.H. 

Faleomavaega would stand shoulder-to-shoul-

der with President Nazarbayev as Kazakhstan 

makes history at the UNSC. And, for sure, he 

would join with the people and parliament of 

the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and urge 

others to do the same, in calling upon the No-

bel Peace Prize Committee to honor President 

Nazarbayev for promoting peace through nu-

clear disarmament in a way no other has be-

fore or since.

Dr. Lisa Williams is the former Staff Di-

rector for the U.S. House of Representa-

tives’ Foreign Affairs’ Subcommittee on 

Asia, the Pacific, and the Global Environ-

ment, and the first woman to have served 

in the position. She also served as Chief of 

Staff for the late Congressman Eni F.H. 

Faleomavaega of American Samoa.

Kazakhstan’s UNSC presidency gives voice 

to modern security, geopolitical realities

K

azakh citizens are justifiably proud that this month the 

country is chairing the United Nations Security Coun-

cil. It is a special moment in our country’s history 

– another symbol of how far Kazakhstan has come as 

well as recognition of the growing importance of Central Asia.  

The presidency is, of course, taken in turns by UNSC mem-

bers, but its significance is not just symbolic. It provides the 

opportunity for a country from outside the ranks of the old, 

traditional powers to help set the international agenda. Attention 

can be focused and debate prompted on the global challenges it 

believes are most critical or over-looked. 

These opportunities are, many would argue, perhaps not 

frequent enough. Our world may have been transformed over 

the last seven decades, but in some ways the UN as a body has 

not kept up with these changes. Its structures and, in particular, 

control of its decision-making levers can still seem to owe more 

to the world of 1948 than 2018. 

It is why Kazakhstan is determined, as it has been since it 

took its seat on the Security Council a year ago, not to waste this 

chance to shape the global agenda. The country’s leadership, 

team at the United Nations and diplomats are working flat out to 

make progress on its regional and international priorities.  

Right at the top of this agenda is to make a start in remov-

ing for good the threat of nuclear war. When Kazakh President 

Nursultan Nazarbayev urged fellow leaders at the UN in 2015 

to make their main goal a world free of nuclear weapons, some 

may have thought that he was over-estimating the danger of 

catastrophic conflict. Scarcely more than two years later, this 

complacency has disappeared. 

Setting out such big ambitions is always important to 

galvanise efforts and provide targets. But it must be coupled, 

as President Nazarbayev has shown many times, with practi-

cal steps to achieve them. This is exactly what the high-level 

UNSC discussions on confidence building measures regard-

ing weapons of mass destruction that Kazakhstan has initiated 

this week are intended to help identify.  

The aim of the discussions is to examine how confidence 

and trust can be built at a regional and international level. 

We need to find agreed ways to resolve and prevent con-

flicts so states no longer feel it is necessary for their security 

to develop nuclear weapons. In time, too, such successful 

measures may persuade countries who already have nuclear 

weapons to reduce their arsenal or follow Kazakhstan’s lead 

in giving them up altogether. 

It is a mark of President Nazarbayev’s own commitment to 

nuclear disarmament that he is helping lead these discussions 

himself in the Security Council.  His involvement during his 

busy schedule in the United States will give the talks a real 

impetus. As the leader of the first country to renounce nuclear 

weapons voluntarily, he has the personal credentials to per-

suade fellow UNSC members to think seriously about what 

needs to happen.

His visit to New York also underlines the importance that 

Kazakhstan places on the United Nations. Right from Kazakh-

stan’s first days as an independent country, it has seen a strong 

UN, respected by all countries, as absolutely essential for global 

stability, security and prosperity. Twenty-six years later, its criti-

cal role is clearer than ever. 

As this paper has shown many times on different issues, our 

world is now so inter-connected and the challenges so complex, 

no country can overcome them on its own. Only by working 

together can we hope to find the solutions needed. 

But if the UN is to play fully the role in identifying and 

delivering answers, it must be modernised and strengthened. 

Giving, for example, a greater role to the General Assembly 

as well as a better balance between regions in a reformed and 

expanded UNSC would help ensure solutions, which work 

for all countries, are identified and trusted.  

Encouraging the reforms and agreements which will 

produce a stronger, better equipped United Nations ready to 

guide the world successfully through the challenges of the 

coming decades is another major priority for Kazakhstan. All 

who want to see a peaceful and prosperous world should be 

supporting Kazakhstan’s agenda.

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