IPD: Reforming Kazakhstan’s Education System and its Foreign Policy Implications

"Reforming Kazakhstan’s Education System and its Foreign Policy Implications"
Wilder Alejandro Sanchez
International Policy Digest
8 November 2018
Originally published: https://intpolicydigest.org/2018/11/08/reforming-kazakhstan-s-education-system-and-its-foreign-policy-implications/

President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan gave a speech on 5 October in which he declared that the Central Asian nation’s education system will be reformed, and “expenditures on education, science and healthcare [will be increased] from all sources up to 10% from the GDP within 5 years.” This is a major promise that will have consequences not only for the country’s education sector, but also its foreign policy.

An Overview of the Education System
Recent statistical analyses provide a good overview of the Kazakh educational system: Kazakhstan was ranked in 56th place in higher education and training, and in 59th place in health in primary education out of 137 countries analyzed by the 2017-2018 Global Competitiveness Index, published by the World Economic Economic Forum. Meanwhile, the 2018 Statistical Update of the Human Development Index, published by the United Nations Development Program, mentions how the Central Asian state currently ranks in 58th place out of 189 countries studied, with 11.8 mean years of schooling. Meanwhile, the World University Rankings 2019, organized by the Times Higher Education, which brands itself the “leading provider of higher education data for the world’s research-led institutions,” lists two Kazakh universities: Al-Farabi Kazakh National University and L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University, in its rankings.

The Kazakh government has replaced its Soviet-era educational system for a more Western-oriented system. For example, Nazarbayev University “is a unique American-based model institution, which originally worked with a team from the University of Pennsylvania to design its academic and governance procedures.” The university’s profile boasts that it has 446 professors and instructors, as well as 103 teaching assistants, from more than 50 nations. This interest in giving Kazakh students a more global perspective can be found in another of the government’s education-related projects: the Bolashak scholarship, via which Astana has sent thousands of its young university students abroad, a Kazakh equivalent of the Fulbright program. Similarly, the Bolashak Teaching program brings foreign students to aid teachers in Kazakhstan for four-week periods.

In terms of actual numbers of students, according to the U.S. website Export.gov, “there are 496,209 students enrolled in higher education institutions in 122 universities nationwide in Academic Year 2017-2018, with the highest concentrations of students in Almaty, Shymkent, Astana and Karaganda. Additionally, slightly more than 85% of the students are self-funded and 14.7% are on state scholarships.” The country has an estimated 18 million citizens, hence this is a significant part of the overall population that are currently carrying out higher education studies.

The October Speech
It is in this situation that President Nazarbayev announced a number of initiatives to further improve the education sector. These proposals should be regarded as an addendum to the 2011-2020 Development Plan of the Education Sector, already underway:

• Review qualification requirements, training methods, the labour remuneration system for teachers and other employees of kindergartens.
• The teaching system and methods of Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools will become a single standard for state schools. Moreover, he explained that “professional analysis and guiding of children in terms of choosing the most in-demand professions should be carried out starting from secondary school.”
• An additional 50 billion tenge (roughly $135 million) from the budget 2019-2021 will be allocated to support regions facing the biggest deficit of school places and problems with three-shift schools or those in critical condition.
• Develop a Law on the Status of Teachers.
• Raise the bar to the quality of education in academic institutions in the higher education system. He explained that it is “crucial to establish partnerships with the world’s leading universities while attracting best foreign senior managers.”
• A think-tank for the development of artificial intelligence technology will be opened at Nazarbayev University.

In other words, the current goal is to reform all levels of the Kazakh educational system, from kindergarten to universities, with an ongoing partnership with international universities.

One interesting fact to point out about the aforementioned proposals is the interest in artificial intelligence (AI) technology. Major universities across the world are making a stronger effort to developed their computer science programs, with a special focus on taking computing studies to the next level: in mid-October, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology announced plans for a “a new college backed by a planned investment of $1 billion.” The key factor is that this new college will focus on “bilinguals,” namely “people in fields like biology, chemistry, politics, history and linguistics who are also skilled in the techniques of modern computing that can be applied to them.” It is expected that this initiative will develop machine intelligence to further support various fields.

Given the aforementioned examples, it is critically important for Kazakhstan to not be left behind in the race for the future of machine intelligence; thus, greater support for computer studies is necessary. Nazarbayev University already has research labs like Advanced Robotics and Mechanotric Systems, the Astana Laboratory for Robotic and Intelligence Systems, hence there’s already a foundation for further AI research.

Education and Foreign Policy
The Kazakh government’s plan to improve the education sector is an important goal since a better educated population will only help the country’s development – coincidentally, Astana’s objective is to become one of the world’s 30 most developed economies by 2050, a goal that can only be reached if the population is well educated. The Bolashak scholarship program is a similarly noteworthy program as it provides the Kazakh youth with an international education at top Western schools, which will help the country’s future leaders have a global vision.

As Dr. Jane Knight correctly discusses in her 2016 commentary “International education, 
global understanding,” there is a strong correlation between high education and foreign affairs. As she explains:

In this changing world of contemporary 
diplomacy, higher education has a significant role and contribution to make. Higher education’s long tradition of scholarly collaboration and academic mobility complemented by today’s innovations of research and policy networks, international education hubs, joint programmes, global and binational universities, have a lot to contribute to strengthening international relations among countries and regions through the generation, diffusion, and exchange of knowledge – in short, knowledge diplomacy.

This correlation is particularly significant for Astana, as the country is regarded as the leader of the Central Asian nations, with a foreign policy that includes attempts at conflict mediation. Additionally, the government recently inaugurated the Astana International Financial Center, which aims at making the Kazakh capital a financial hub for Central Asian investment, complete with English Common Law to appear even more attractive to Western companies. Given these ambitious goals, it is important for future Kazakh diplomats, politicians, economists, scholars and other policy makers to have a strong education.

Final Thoughts
President Nazarbayev’s 5 October speech explained his vision for improving the quality of life in Kazakhstan, naturally improving the country’s education sector, from kindergarten to universities, will be a pillar of this vision. To its credit, the Kazakh government has made a true effort to provide good education to its citizens, including providing them the opportunity to study abroad via the Bolashak scholarship program. Alas, there is still more that can, and should, be done, like cracking down on the culture of corruption – President Nazarbayev declared in his October speech that the fight against corruption will continue, “we need to spread the capital’s experience in implementing the anti-corruption strategy as part of “Corruption-free Regions” projects,” he stated. Hopefully this pledge will trickle down to corruption in universities.

Finally, improving the Kazakh education system will also have positive consequences for the country’s foreign policy. As this article briefly discussed, Astana has reason to be proud for its objectives and accomplishments in the realm of international affairs. Additional positive changes to Kazakhtan’s education sector will help better prepare the future leaders of the country for tomorrow’s challenges.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and do not necessarily reflect those of any institutions with which the author is associated.

Providence: The Possibility of US Intervention in Venezuela

"The Possibility of US Intervention in Venezuela"
Wilder Alejandro Sanchez
Providence
23 October, 2018
Originally published:  https://providencemag.com/2018/10/us-intervention-venezuela/

“For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?” (Luke 14:28)

As the crisis in Venezuela continues and with Nicolás Maduro showing no intention of ever stepping down from power, diplomatic pressure from various Latin American governments and the Organization of American States has done nothing to shake the confidence of the chavistas in Caracas. In this situation, the US media has reported that US officials have met with anti-Maduro military officers, apparently to discuss a regime change in the South American state. But what does history and the Bible tell us about planning before acting?

Meetings and Statements
According to a September 8 article in the New York Times, the White House held “secret meetings with rebellious military officers from Venezuela over the last year to discuss their plans to overthrow President Nicolás Maduro.” The article described various meetings, during which Venezuelan military officers requested communication equipment to coordinate their coup, which Washington did not provide; nor did it, according to the article, endorse the conspirators’ plans.

As for President Donald Trump’s opinion about Venezuela, back in 2017 he talked about a “military option” to deal with the situation there. Then, while attending the United Nations General Assembly in September 2018, he once again mused that “all options are on the table,” adding that “the strong ones and the less than strong ones—and you know what I mean by strong.” At the same time, he has said that he is willing to meet with President Maduro.

Other senior officials have made direct or vague statements about the use of military force in Venezuela. For example, Vice Admiral Craig Faller, who has been nominated to lead Southern Command (which oversees US military operations in most of Latin America and the Caribbean) has stated that “we are not doing anything other than normal, prudent planning that a combatant command would do to prepare for a range of contingencies.” On the other hand, Republican Senator Marco Rubio tweeted in February that “the world would support the Armed Forces in #Venezuela if they decide to protect the people & restore democracy by removing a dictator.”

It is unclear exactly what role the US would play should something actually occur in Venezuela. Would the US back a coup carried out by Venezuelans? Or, as President Trump seems to think, could US troops land in Caracas? There are regional precedents for these speculations: in 1964, Washington sent a carrier group, led by the USS Forrestal, to Brazil to support, if necessary, a military coup against President João Goulart. As for more “traditional” regime change operations, in 1989 the US invaded Panama to overthrow the late dictator Manuel Noriega.

Discussion
Regime change operations are problematic, whether covert or overt. They should not occur without, as the Bible verse at the beginning of this essay states, lengthy discussions and analyses in order to attempt to predict and prepare for different outcomes, both positive and negative. After all, a government may intervene in another nation with the best of intentions, such as to remove a repressive regime that has brought the country to financial ruin while perpetuating its own power, but the consequences may not be as expected. The US experienced this not long ago when then-Vice President Dick Cheney said that “my belief is we will, in fact, be greeted as liberators” as US troops prepared to go to Iraq to overthrow Saddam Hussein, and when then-President George W. Bush declared “mission accomplished.” History proved them wrong.

In Venezuela, the problem is not just President Maduro, but also other officials like Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, the cabinet of ministers, the unconstitutional National Constituent Assembly (including its president, Diosdado Cabello), and the military leadership, like Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino, a key supporter of the regime. Any attempt at regime change would have to oust all of those individuals, as well.

Even more, should violence break out (whether between rival factions or against a foreign military), it is unclear how the Venezuelan military and other security agencies would react. We know there is some level of discontent within Venezuela’s National Bolivarian Armed Forces; in recent years Caracas has arrested many military officers, accusing them of plotting coups. But how the military would react if a coup or foreign intervention occurred is unknown. Again, it is unwise to be blindly optimistic.

As a final point, another regime change operation backed by US involvement would have regional (if not global) repercussions. In addition to the aforementioned examples, other US interventions include Guatemala in 1954, the Dominican Republic in 1965, Grenada in 1983, and numerous (failed) attempts against the Castro regime throughout the Cold War. Hence, although Washington would be helping to remove a very unpopular regime—Maduro’s allies in the hemisphere have been reduced to Bolivia, Cuba, Nicaragua, and a handful of Caribbean islands—this would trigger memories of indiscriminate US interventions in the region within living memory. How Latin American and Caribbean citizens and governments would react, and what this would mean for Western Hemisphere geopolitics, is anyone’s guess.

Final Thoughts
The general consensus in the Western Hemisphere, with few exceptions, is that the Maduro government is a dictatorship that wants to perpetuate itself in power. Washington has hinted that “all options are on the table” when it comes to dealing with Caracas and has already imposed sanctions against high profile individuals. Recent media stories about meetings between the US government and opposition military leaders to discuss some sort of regime change in Caracas are likely true. After all, Washington has a lengthy history of intervention in the Western Hemisphere.

Alas, interventions, whether via military or other tactics, are tricky, and the decision making and planning process cannot be rushed. Washington and most of the hemisphere strongly desire Maduro’s removal, but prudence is found in thinking about the future rationally.

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Wilder Alejandro Sanchez is an analyst who focuses on geopolitical, military and cyber security issues in the Western Hemisphere. The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and do not necessarily reflect those of any institutions with which the author is associated.

Providence: US-Central America Relations: Using Aid as a Foreign Policy Tool Will Backfire

"US-Central America Relations: Using Aid as a Foreign Policy Tool Will Backfire"
Wilder Alejandro Sanchez
Providence
2 November 2018
Originally published: https://providencemag.com/2018/11/us-central-america-relations-using-aid-as-a-foreign-policy-tool-will-backfire/

A caravan of thousands of people, mostly Hondurans, is currently in southern Mexico as it attempts to reach the US in search of a better life. This situation has prompted harsh criticism from President Donald Trump, who has threatened to cut financial aid to Honduras and the other Central American nations where the migrants originate from. This is a bad idea that will backfire rather than help the situation.

Caravans and Statements
The caravan originated in San Pedro Sula, a Honduran city well known for high levels of gang-related crime and violence. This mass of human beings has already walked through Honduras and Guatemala and has entered Mexico. While most of these individuals are Hondurans, others have joined as it made its way north, from neighboring countries like El Salvador and Guatemala—these three nations are known as the “Northern Triangle.” How many migrants constitute the caravan is unclear; estimates put the number at between 4,500 and 7,000.

At the time of this writing, thousands of caravan members have entered Mexico, and many have others have applied for temporary visas or refugee status. Nevertheless, many have entered without proper documentation by crossing the Suchiate River or turning to human traffickers. According to CNN En Espanol, some 3,000 Hondurans are returning home rather than facing additional risks to reach the US President Trump, who campaigned on an anti-immigration platform, has demanded that the caravan not reach the US. On October 22 he tweeted, “Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador were not able to do the job of stopping people from leaving their country and coming illegally to the US. We will now begin cutting off, or substantially reducing, the massive foreign aid routinely given to them.” In a separate tweet, he declared that “criminals and unknown Middle Easterners are mixed in” the caravan.

President Trump has often accused undocumented Latin American migrants of being violent criminals. Furthermore, there is no evidence that “Middle Easterners” are part of said caravan.

Discussion
In short, blackmailing the three Northern Triangle governments into stopping their citizens from migrating is a bad foreign policy strategy.

First of all, these three nations have historically been faithful US allies; in fact, the US military has facilities at the Palmerola base in Honduras, home of Joint Task Force Bravo; and the Cooperative Security Location in Comalapa, El Salvador. Moreover, in an example of desiring to support its ally, Salvadoran troops fought in Iraq as part of the US-led coalition. Hence, it makes little geopolitical sense to alienate reliable US partners in the region, particularly at a time when Washington requires regional support and cohesion to deal with hemispheric problems, such as Venezuela—in fact, Guatemala and Honduras voted in favor of a US-backed resolution in the Organization of American States that attempted to suspend Venezuela earlier this year.

Secondly, these three nations are poor, and they rely on foreign assistance. Should the US cut off aid, the situation would get worse, not better. For example, ForeignAssistance.gov explains that in 2019 Washington plans to provide $65.75 million to Honduras; these funds will be utilized to (hopefully) improve democracy, human rights, and governance, as well as economic development and education. Meanwhile, USAID reports that in 2016 a total of $127 million was donated to Honduras across all US agencies, with the main targets being programs on violence prevention, counter-narcotics, and strengthening justice and human rights. In other words, the money will be used precisely to improve the situation that prompted the caravan to leave its homeland in the first place.

Additionally, there is the obvious question of how exactly these Northern Triangle governments could stop their citizens from leaving. None of these countries have particularly large militaries or police forces—which contributes to the ongoing wave of violence in the region, which in turn prompts migration—that can be deployed along their common borders. Moreover, the region’s geography does not help the situation, as it is a dense jungle with several rivers, not to mention the Sierra Madre de Chiapas mountain range. In other words, a border wall across these countries is not a possibility.

Without a doubt, there is a valid concern of whether US economic aid to the Northern Triangle nations is having a positive effect nowadays. For example, in 2019 Washington plans to provide $69.41 million to Guatemala in foreign assistance, with $20 million going to the rule of law, civil society and good governance. This is ironic as Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales is behaving in an increasingly dictatorial manner, exemplified best by his refusal to allow the head of Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), Iván Velásquez, into the country. The reason for this is CICIG’s work on cracking down on corruption in Guatemala, which includes the president himself.

Final Thoughts
Violence, poverty, and lack of opportunities for a good life prompted a new caravan of thousands of people to leave Honduras en route to the US, where they hope to have a good life. Mass migration is certainly a problem that governments need to deal with, but punishing the countries where these migrants come from is not a solution, particularly given that these nations are reliable US allies. Cutting economic aid will make the situation worse, not better, because such a policy won’t address the causes of why this migration occurred in the first place.

As a corollary to this analysis, it is important to point out that on October 23 Infobae.com reported that a new caravan is being organized, this one out of El Salvador. If President Trump cuts foreign assistance to these nations, what leverage will he have left to influence them?

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Wilder Alejandro Sanchez is an analyst who focuses on geopolitical, military, and cybersecurity issues in the Western Hemisphere. The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and do not necessarily reflect those of any institutions with which the author is associated.

CIMSEC: Atlantico: Brazil’s New Carrier

"Atlantico: Brazil's New Carrier"
Wilder Alejandro Sanchez
The Southern Tide
Center for International Maritime Security
16 October, 2018
Originally published: http://cimsec.org/atlantico-brazils-new-carrier/38351

Written by W. Alejandro Sanchez, The Southern Tide addresses maritime security issues throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. It discusses the challenges regional navies face including limited defense budgets, inter-state tensions, and transnational crimes. It also examines how these challenges influence current and future defense strategies, platform acquisitions, and relations with global powers.

“The security environment in Latin America and the Caribbean is characterized by complex, diverse, and non-traditional challenges to U.S. interests.” –Admiral Kurt W. Tidd, Commander, U.S. Southern Command, before the 114^th Congress Senate Armed Services Committee, 10 March 2016.

By Wilder Alejandro Sanchez

Brazil’s new helicopter carrier, PHM Atlantico (A 140), docked in Rio de Janeiro on 25 August 2018 after sailing across the Atlantic Ocean from Plymouth, United Kingdom, its former home. The vessel is the new pride and joy of the Brazilian Navy. However, apart from possessing an imposing appearance, how is this vessel useful to Brazil?

The New Ship
Atlantico was formerly known as HMS Ocean (L 12), an amphibious assault ship that belonged to the British Royal Navy. It was commissioned in 1998 and decommissioned earlier this year. The Brazilian government purchased it for 84 million British pounds. Among its characteristics the vessel displaces 21,000 tons, has a length of 203 meters, a max speed of 21 knots, and a range of up to 8,000 miles. According to the Brazilian Navy, the vessel is equipped with four 30mm DS30M Mk2 guns, two 1007 radars, one 1008 radar, and one Artisan 3D 997 radar. Atlantico transports a crew of 303 with only one female naval officer, Captain Márcia Freitas, chief of the vessel’s medical department. The ship can also transport as many as 800 marines. “It’s a new ship, in good condition. It can be operational for 20 to 30 years,” declared Brazilian Admiral Luiz Roberto Valicente to the Brazilian daily Estadao.

Atlantico can transport as many as 18 helicopters, but it is still unclear which type of aircraft the Brazilian Navy will deploy aboard its new vessel. On 5 September, the Brazilian aerospace company Helibras, a division of Airbus, tweeted a photo of H225M helicopters landing on the deck of Atlantico, hinting that these types of aircraft could be deployed on the new carrier. Additionally, the Estadao article declared that the carrier is compatible with all the models of helicopters currently operated by the Brazilian Navy.

It is worth noting that this is the third carrier that the Brazilian Navy has operated. Atlantico replaces the Clemencau-class carrier Sao Paulo (A 12), which was decommissioned in 2017. Previously, Brazil operated a Colossus-class aircraft carrier Minas Gerais (A 11), which was decommissioned in 2001.

Why Does Brazil Need a Carrier?
The standard explanation out of Brasilia for the purchase of the helicopter carrier is that it will help protect Brazil’s exclusive economic zone, which is rich with maritime resources such as fish and oil deposits. Moreover, in an interview with the Brazilian defense news website Defesanet, Capitan Giovani Corrêa, commander of Atlantico, explained that with the addition of the carrier, “the Navy will have a platform with dissuasive capabilities [which will help the] control of vast maritime areas…will help maintain security in the South Atlantic and…will protect Brazil at the international level.”

The statement about “dissuasive capabilities” raises the question of which nation could possibly attack Brazil in the first place. The country last fought an inter-state war when it deployed an expeditionary force to Europe to fight alongside the Allies during World War II. Even more, when it comes to conflicts with neighboring states, the last war that Brazil participated in was the Acre War (1899-1903) with Bolivia.

Additionally, it is important to mention that Latin American geopolitics are fairly stable these days (the situation in Venezuela notwithstanding), which means that the rest of the region does not view Brazil’s recent acquisition, or its similarly ambitious submarine and corvette programs, with concern. In other words, there have been no apparent moves by regional navies to upgrade their own defenses in response to the acquisition of Atlantico. Latin America is not experiencing an arms race these days and Brasilia’s relations with its neighbors are fairly cordial, which effectively rules out the hypothesis of a regional state attempting to obtain control of Brazilian waters by force.

Thus, apart from patrolling Brazil’s territorial waters looking for non-traditional threats (such as illegal fishing, drug trafficking, or piracy), what other duties will Atlantico perform? In the aforementioned interview, Captain Corrêa suggested the carrier could be used to support humanitarian operations and as a command and control center for a task force. This raises the hypothesis that the ship could be deployed to United Nations peacekeeping operations. One likely candidate is the UN Interim Force in Lebanon, which has a naval component, the Maritime Task Force. Brazil regularly deploys a vessel to this naval force – the current ship there is the frigate Liberal (F 43). Hence, Atlantico could similarly be deployed to the Mediterranean to serve as a command center, should the task force attempt to carry out a major operation there.   

Finally, and perhaps most importantly for Brasilia, Atlantico will give the Brazilian Navy true blue water capability. That was the main purpose of the previous carrier, Sao Paulo, but the vessel spent more time docked and undergoing repairs than at sea, so hopefully for Brazil, Atlantico will perform much better.

Final Thoughts
The acquisition of the helicopter carrier Atlantico, alongside the PROSUB submarine program and the Tamandare corvette program, are examples of the Brazilian Navy aiming to become a true blue water navy in the 21^st century. 
Domestically speaking, Brazil has little to fear about a conflict with a neighboring state, but Atlantico, should it perform better than its predecessor Sao Paulo, will be of great help to project the image of the marinha do Brasil well past the South Atlantic.

Wilder Alejandro Sanchez is a researcher who focuses on geopolitical, military and cyber security issues in the Western Hemisphere. Follow him on Twitter: @W_Alex_Sanchez.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and do not necessarily reflect those of any institutions with which the author is associated.