Approval of National Security Strategy for 2021-2025 to Address Rising Challenges Facing Kazakhstan

The National Security Strategy for 2021-2025 signed by Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev is one of the major documents in the public administration system. The adopted strategy covers the most important issues of national security and the protection of the state from a whole range of current and potential threats.

It should be emphasized that the key national interests of Kazakhstan remain immutable. This was stated by the Chairman of the Security Council and First President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev at the stage of strategy development. The task of ensuring national security is to guarantee the preservation of all the most important gains of independence of Kazakhstan over the last 30 years, including the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country.

The current international situation is characterized by dynamic changes, which requires regular adaptation strategies to newly emerging challenges and threats.

The adopted document will become a key guideline in determining the goals and objectives of the country in the field of national security for the next five years, which corresponds to the best world practices in the field of public planning and management.

Thus, it is no coincidence that the development of public healthcare, along with ensuring biological safety, is becoming one of the main priorities. As the world and domestic experience in combating the pandemic has shown, the prevention of threats in the field of medical and biological security is becoming an unconditional priority for any country.

Moreover, a high level of cyber protection is becoming an indispensable condition for the successful development of any state, which is also reflected in the new strategy. Large-scale incidents in global cyberspace in recent years have demonstrated that the protection of personal data and information infrastructure is becoming critical to security.

The strategy also emphasizes the importance of revising targets for ensuring economic security. Today it is extremely important to consider the possible negative impact of external economic shocks. To that end, the government has set the agenda for risk management in the field of food security, transport, logistics, and the financial sector.

Finally, the growth of geopolitical tensions, the changing nature of wars and armed conflicts with the dominance of hybrid forms dictate the need to build up the country’s defense potential. At the current critical time for the system of international relations, Kazakhstan set the task of guaranteed preservation of its sovereignty and the effective defense of its borders.

Guided by the National Security Risk Management Action Plan, which will be developed as part of the Strategy, Kazakhstan will be able to develop a comprehensive system of preventive mechanisms and specific measures to prevent threats.

The National Security Strategy is a timely step to address the rising threats that the world faces going into the third decade of the 21st century.

The author is Yerzhan Saltybaev, the director of the Institute of World Economics and Politics (IWEP) under the Nursultan Nazarbayev Foundation. 


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