BERLIN, April 17 (UPI) -- Kazakhstan, a former Soviet republic that has stormed to riches thanks to its abundant natural resources, may now become instrumental in solving the West's nuclear conflict with Iran.
U.S. President Barack Obama is "seriously considering" an offer from Kazakhstan to host an international nuclear fuel bank, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Such a bank would provide states with fuel for nuclear power plants in a bid to eliminate the need for domestic enrichment capacities that could also be abused to build nuclear weapons.
Obama has long touted the idea of such an institution as a way out of the impasse with Iran, which the West fears is abusing a civil nuclear program to secretly acquire an atomic bomb.
At first glance, Kazakhstan seems an unlikely candidate to host such a fuel bank. But that's largely due to the fact that it's still a blank spot on the map for many in the West.
Once populated by nomadic tribes, Kazakhstan, a landlocked country larger than Western Europe, has evolved into the best economic performer in Central Asia. Thanks to its large oil, gas and mineral reserves and a speedy free market reform, the Kazakh economy has over the past few years averaged double-digit yearly growth.
It has moreover engaged in slick diplomacy to balance cooperation with its powerful neighbors, including China and Russia, and with the West. Kazakhstan, for example, is one of the main suppliers of a key pipeline to Europe bypassing Russia, the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, but it nevertheless managed to keep relations with Moscow strong. It has been courted many times by the West and the East but has always resisted swinging one way or the other.
"Kazakhstan is neither dependent on Russia, nor on China nor on the United States. That's a significant diplomatic accomplishment," Gernot Erler, Germany's deputy foreign minister, said earlier this week in Berlin.
Recently, however, Kazakhstan has been looking westward. The country's authoritarian leader, President Nursultan Nazarbayev, has launched a new strategy called "The Way to Europe," which aims to intensify the country's relations with the European Union.
Next year, Kazakhstan will chair the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, moving the country to the forefront of the Western strategies in this region connecting Europe and Asia.
All this makes Kazakhstan an interesting partner for the West, but what qualifies the country to host a nuclear fuel bank is its spotless proliferation record.
The Soviet Union for decades tested its nuclear weapons in Kazakhstan, staging some 500 explosions in the steppe. After the end of the Cold War, Kazakhstan was left with a significant nuclear arsenal -- but instead of becoming a nuclear power, it decided to destroy the weapons. Because Kazakhstan also sits atop the world's second-largest uranium reserves, it is a candidate to consider.
Obama has already hinted that he may soon visit the country, which would be the first trip there of a U.S. president. Iran's notorious President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad already did so earlier this month, and at a joint news conference with Nazarbayev, he lauded his idea to host a nuclear fuel bank as "a very good proposal."
That Iran trusts Kazakhstan is a major plus for the country -- but not so much for its democratic record.
Nazarbayev enjoys dictator-style powers; he has been in charge of the country since 1989, and some of his opponents have ended up jailed or dead. The Kazakh press isn't free, and its elections, although improved, do not yet meet international standards.
In Europe, diplomats including Erler, the German deputy foreign minister, hope that the OSCE leadership will speed up democratic reforms in Kazakhstan.
Already, Nazarbayev has handed some of his powers over to Parliament, with bills in the making that will hopefully improve the electoral system and boost civil rights.
"President Nazarbayev has chosen … democracy," Nurlan Onzhanov, Kazakhstan's ambassador to Germany, said earlier this week in Berlin.
