Kazakhstan's economic soft balancing policy vis-à-vis Russia: From the Eurasian Union to the economic cooperation with Turkey

Lyailya Nurgaliyeva 한양대학교 아태지역연구센터 2016 Journal of Eurasian Studies Vol.7 No.1

What has been the reaction of Kazakhstan toward the rising power and influence of Russia since 1994? This paper uses the concept of soft-balancing, specifically analyzing economic issues using Stephen Walt's balance of threats approach, in an analysis of Kazakhstan's relationship with Russia. It examines instances of Kazakhstan's internal and external economic soft balancing efforts vis-à-vis Russia to explain how it used economic tools to protect its energy security from Russia. After 1991, which marked the collapse of the Soviet Union, the newly independent countries of the former Soviet Union – the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), including Kazakhstan, needed to create an institution that could tackle economic and energy problems in the region. I argue that the Eurasian Union idea promoted by the president of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, was a skillful attempt to simultaneously maintain a close cooperation with Russia and to soft balance against Russia's influence through collaboration with other CIS countries. However, that initiative failed and did not have the intended economic soft balancing effect. When Russia started asserting its economic and political power over the Central Asian and Caspian regions, Nazarbayev once again resorted to the economic soft balancing policy, but this time by relying on outside players. Part 2 of this article discusses two cases of such external economic soft balancing efforts: participation in the Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline project, and the economic cooperation with Turkey as part of a free trade zone. The BTC pipeline project and the close economic cooperation with Turkey ended up being a more productive soft balancing effort than the earlier Eurasian Union initiative. What has been the reaction of Kazakhstan toward the rising power and influence of Russia since 1994? This paper uses the concept of soft-balancing, specifically analyzing economic issues using Stephen Walt's balance of threats approach, in an analysis of Kazakhstan's relationship with Russia. It examines instances of Kazakhstan's internal and external economic soft balancing efforts vis-à-vis Russia to explain how it used economic tools to protect its energy security from Russia. After 1991, which marked the collapse of the Soviet Union, the newly independent countries of the former Soviet Union – the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), including Kazakhstan, needed to create an institution that could tackle economic and energy problems in the region. I argue that the Eurasian Union idea promoted by the president of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, was a skillful attempt to simultaneously maintain a close cooperation with Russia and to soft balance against Russia's influence through collaboration with other CIS countries. However, that initiative failed and did not have the intended economic soft balancing effect. When Russia started asserting its economic and political power over the Central Asian and Caspian regions, Nazarbayev once again resorted to the economic soft balancing policy, but this time by relying on outside players. Part 2 of this article discusses two cases of such external economic soft balancing efforts: participation in the Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline project, and the economic cooperation with Turkey as part of a free trade zone. The BTC pipeline project and the close economic cooperation with Turkey ended up being a more productive soft balancing effort than the earlier Eurasian Union initiative.

미중 전략경쟁과 베트남의 대중국 전략: 헤징에서 연성균형 전략으로

조원득 ( Wondeuk Cho ),이상숙 ( Sang-sook Lee ) 조선대학교 동북아연구소 2020 동북아연구 Vol.35 No.2

This study explains the change in Vietnam’s strategy toward China in response to the change of its threat-perceptions to China, from ‘hedging’ to ‘balancing,’ with regard to a continuous policy spectrum. Vietnam, which has historically been highly aware of China’s threats, severed its relationship with China after the war against China in 1979. But Vietnam normalized its diplomatic relations with China in 1991 due to the Sino-Russian rapprochement after the post-Cold War. It adopted a hedging strategy toward China since the normalization with the US. When Vietnam’s threat perceptions to China has deepened, Vietnam adopted a balancing strategy instead of a hedging. In this case, it considered the economic interdependence with China and Sino-Vietnam power asymmetry, and therefore, selected a soft balancing rather than a hard balancing. Vietnam announced a statement in protest against China’s assertive behaviors and violation of Vietnam’s sovereignty. In addition, Vietnam appeals to international institutions such as the United Nations and international community about China’s illegal activities in order to internationalize the South China Sea disputes, to weaken China’s position and to gain support from other countries. However, As China’s revisionist and offensive military activities in the South China Sea have not been suppressed, but rather increased, Vietnam began to change its strategy to military soft balancing strategy. Above all, Vietnam is strengthening its maritime defense capabilities by increasing its defense and security cooperation with the United States, including joint exercises, military training, and transfer of US patrol boats to Vietnam’s coast guards. At the same time, Vietnam is expanding its military security cooperation US security partners(so-called Quad countries) including Australia, India, and Japan. In this respect, this study analyzes that Vietnam is changing its strategy from hedging strategy to soft balancing, and especially strengthening military soft balancing in addition to non-military soft balancing, reflecting changes in the international political environment and Vietnamese perception of threat to China in the South China Sea.

북핵문제 외교적 해법의 실패원인과 시사점

조성렬(Seong-Ryoul Cho) 고려대학교 일민국제관계연구원 2014 국제관계연구 Vol.19 No.2

There are two approaches to resolve the North Korean nuke issue; non-diplomatic and diplomatic one. Probabilities of success over the destruction of nuke facilities by preemptive strikes, and the political approach to solve North Korea’s nuke issue by regime change may be possible, but it can cause warfare situation between the North and the South. Judging from the course of six-party talks, the strong solution is the diplomatic approach such as trade-off North Korea’s nuke weapons program for economic incentives or guarantee of the North’s security. There are a soft balancing and a hard balancing by the security-security tradeoff for guarantee of the North’s security reducing its reasonable security concerns. At the beginning of the dialogue, the North didn’t make a demand “hard balancing” by nuke deterrence but “soft balancing” such as normalization of the U.S.-North Korea’s relationship and building the Korean peace regime at the cost of its abandonment of all nuke programs in North Korea. However, the North is pursuing “hard balancing” instead of “soft balancing” and declared nuclear-armed state overtly after the advents of Kim Jong-Un’s regime. Because of this the North’s changed attitude, it couldn’t even be able to resume the Six-party talks. As far as the North adheres to the strategic line on carrying out economic construction and building nuclear armed forces simultaneously, the Six-party talks cannot be achieved its aim though it will be resumed. Therefore, a new bold suggestion of ‘soft balancing’ based on security-security trade-off approach should be prepared for making abandonment of the North’s strategic line and its nuke programs diplomatically.

Hard, Soft, Smart? North Korea and Power : It’s All Relative

VIRGINIE GRZELCZYK Institute for International Trade and Cooperation, 2017 Asian International Studies Review Vol.18 No.1

North Korea is notable for its isolation, yet the Korean Central News Agency’s daily editions are filled with articles outlining international admiration for Pyongyang and its leader. Is Pyongyang actively promoting soft power as an integral part of not only its survival, but its development strategy? While scholarship on North Korea tends to focus on Pyongyang’s “high profile” relations with China or Russia (Shambaugh 2003, McCormack 2004, Wu 2005) or with nations seeking to cooperate on weapons of mass destruction (Henriksen 2001), little attention has been paid to how the DPRK engages in seemingly peaceful ways with the world. This article examines the notion of hard, soft, smart and other power declensions, and applies a soft-power framework to investigate DPRK rhetoric and the development of partnerships with both states and non-state actors. It suggests that the DPRK has long pursued a strategy of diplomatic diversification, which includes a more sophisticated understanding of power than previously considered in the literature.

Effects of Negative Pressure Soft Tissue Therapy to Ankle Plantar Flexor on Muscle Tone, Muscle Stiffness, and Balance Ability in Patients with Stroke

Kim, Kyu Ryeong,Shin, Houng Soo,Lee, Sang Bin,Hwang, Hyun Sook,Shin, Hee Joon International Academy of Physical Therapy Research 2018 Journal of International Academy of Physical Ther Vol.9 No.2

The purpose of the study was to investigate the immediate effects of negative pressure soft tissue therapy on muscle tone, muscle stiffness and balance in patients with stroke. In total, 20 patients with stroke and assigned to the negative pressure soft tissue therapy group (NPST, n=10) or, placebo-negative pressure soft tissue therapy group(Placebo-NPST, n=10). Both groups underwent NPST or placebo-NPST once a day during the experimental period. MyotonPRO was used to assess the parameters for muscle tone and stiffness. Biorescue was used to assess the parameters for balance. Each group showed improvements in muscle tone, muscle stiffness, and balance ability (p<.05). Especially, Muscle tone, muscle stiffness, and anterior length in the limit of stability were the significant improvement on NPST group (p<.05). The results of the study suggest that the NPST is effective in improving muscle tone, muscle stiffness, and balance ability in patients with stroke.

Analysis on Bilateral Relations between Brazil and the EU from the Soft Balancing Perspective

Chung-hung Cho 부산외국어대학교 중남미지역원 2017 이베로아메리카 Vol.19 No.1

Brazil’s traditional diplomatic strategy is “balancing the US position and bandwagoning the EU”. However, these realistic views, namely, balancing and bandwagoning, have not explained the strategic choice of Brazil. This paper discusses the evolution of the relationship between Brazil and the EU and attempts to redefine their bilateral relation. Three current situations and hypothetical developments are used as the main axis of the structure of the article: the economic alliance between Brazil and the EU, a multilateral strategic partnership between both parties and bilateral relations as both a partnership and a competition. The relations between both parties have shown a strategic alliance formed by the link of the issue, which excludes the cooperation on hard military issues and selects the alliance on soft issues. The concept with both balancing and bandwagoning is adopted to reach a diplomatic consensus that provides compromise without the loss of autonomy to construct the Brazil’s diplomatic strategy of “soft balancing”.

Effects of Negative Pressure Soft Tissue Therapy to Ankle Plantar Flexor on Muscle Tone, Muscle Stiffness, and Balance Ability in Patients with Stroke

김규령,신형수,이상빈,황현숙,신희준 국제물리치료연구학회 2018 Journal of International Academy of Physical Ther Vol.9 No.2

The purpose of the study was to investigate the immediate effects of negative pressure soft tissue therapy on muscle tone, muscle stiffness and balance in patients with stroke. In total, 20 patients with stroke and assigned to the negative pressure soft tissue therapy group (NPST, n=10) or, placebo-negative pressure soft tissue therapy group(Placebo-NPST, n=10). Both groups underwent NPST or placebo-NPST once a day during the experimental period. MyotonPRO was used to assess the parameters for muscle tone and stiffness. Biorescue was used to assess the parameters for balance. Each group showed improvements in muscle tone, muscle stiffness, and balance ability (p<.05). Especially, Muscle tone, muscle stiffness, and anterior length in the limit of stability were the significant improvement on NPST group (p<.05). The results of the study suggest that the NPST is effective in improving muscle tone, muscle stiffness, and balance ability in patients with stroke.

Effects of Negative Pressure Soft Tissue Therapy to Ankle Plantar Flexor on Muscle Tone, Muscle Stiffness, and Balance Ability in Patients with Stroke

국제물리치료연구학회 국제물리치료연구학회 2018 Journal of International Academy of Physical Ther Vol.9 No.2

The purpose of the study was to investigate the immediate effects of negative pressure soft tissue therapy on muscle tone, muscle stiffness and balance in patients with stroke. In total, 20 patients with stroke and assigned to the negative pressure soft tissue therapy group (NPST, n=10) or, placebo-negative pressure soft tissue therapy group(Placebo-NPST, n=10). Both groups underwent NPST or placebo-NPST once a day during the experimental period. MyotonPRO was used to assess the parameters for muscle tone and stiffness. Biorescue was used to assess the parameters for balance. Each group showed improvements in muscle tone, muscle stiffness, and balance ability (p<.05). Especially, Muscle tone, muscle stiffness, and anterior length in the limit of stability were the significant improvement on NPST group (p<.05). The results of the study suggest that the NPST is effective in improving muscle tone, muscle stiffness, and balance ability in patients with stroke.

Quantification of the Effect of Vertical Bone Resection of the Medial Proximal Tibia for Achieving Soft Tissue Balancing in Total Knee Arthroplasty

Ji Hyun Ahn,이성현,Ho Won Kang 대한정형외과학회 2016 Clinics in Orthopedic Surgery Vol.8 No.1

Background: Degenerative osteoarthritis of the knee usually shows arthritic change in the medial tibiofemoral joint with severe varus deformity. In total knee arthroplasty (TKA), the medial release technique is often used for achieving mediolateral balancing. But, in a more severe varus knee, there are more difficult technical problems. Bony resection of the medial proximal tibia (MPT) as an alternative technique for achieving soft tissue balancing was assessed in terms of its effectiveness and possibility of quantification. Methods: TKAs were performed in 78 knees (60 patients) with vertical bone resection of the MPT for soft tissue balancing from September 2011 to March 2013. During operation, the medial and lateral gaps were measured before and after the bony resection technique. First, the correlation between the measured thickness of the resected bone and the change in medial and lateral gaps was analyzed. Second, the possibility of quantification of each parameter was evaluated by linear regression and the coefficient ratio was obtained. Results: A significant correlation was identified between alteration in the medial gap change in extension and the measured thickness of the vertically resected MPT (r = 0.695, p = 0.000). In the medial gap change in flexion, there was no statistical significance (r = 0.214, p = 0.059). When the MPT was resected at an average thickness of 8.25 ± 1.92 mm, the medial gap in extension was increased by 2.94 ± 0.87 mm. In simple linear regression, it was predictable that MPT resection at a thickness of 2.80 mm was required to increase the medial gap by 1.00 mm in knee extension. Conclusions: The method of bone resection of the MPT can be considered effective with a predictable result for achieving soft tissue balancing in terms of quantification during TKA.

중국과 중앙아시아 관계 : 미국에 대한 소프트밸런싱 전략을 중심으로

강택구,김예경 한국외국어대학교 국제지역연구센터 2012 국제지역연구 Vol.16 No.2

The purpose of this paper is to study on China’s emergence and its influence on international society against the U.S. hegemony. Recently, China's influence has proliferated in Central Asia as well as East Asia at a rapid rate. China, through its Soft-Balancing strategy, increased its influence in Central Asia in response to the U.S. power and behavior. This study analyzes the relationship among China and Central Asia with the view of Soft-Balancing theory. In order to determine whether China's strategy on Central Asia is soft balancing, this paper presents three indicators: 1) Second-tier major power is willing to take a strategy that increase diplomatic cost of hegemony or counter the hegemony influence through using regional and global multilateral cooperation. 2) Second-tier major power is willing to not only increase its influence by strengthening regional economic cooperation, but also check the extension of the hegemony economic influence into its boundary. 3) Second-tier major power intends to prevent expanding hegemony military influence into the region through limited military cooperation and increasing military spending, and denying territory. This paper analyze China's multi-polar strategy, economic and energy cooperation with Central Asia countries, and the military and security cooperation with multilateral organizations such as SCO. 본 논문은 오늘날 부상하고 있는 중국이 기존 패권국가인 미국에 대응해 국제사회에서 어떻게 자신의 영향력을 유지·확대하고 있는 가를 연구하는 데 목적으로 한다. 최근 중국의 영향력은 동아시아를 넘어서 중앙아시아로 확대되고 있는 추세이다. 중국은 소프트밸런싱 전략을 통해 미국을 견제하며 중앙아시아에 대한 자국의 영향력을 확대하고 있다. 본 연구는 최근 급속도로 발전하고 있는 중국과 중앙아시아의 관계를 대미 견제의 소프트밸런싱 이론을 적용해 분석하고자 한다. 본 논문에서는 중국의 중앙아시아에 대한 전략이 소프트밸런싱인지를 판단하기 위한 3가지 지표를 제시한다. 1) 도전국가는 지역적 또는 국제적 다자협력을 활용하여 패권국가의 외교적 비용을 높이거나 패권국을 견제하기 위한 전략을 제시한다. 2) 도전국가는 역내 국가들과의 경제협력을 강화하여 자국의 영향력을 증대하는 한편, 패권국의 경제적 영향력이 도전국가의 역내로 확대되는 것을 견제하고자 한다. 3) 도전국은 군사동맹보다는 역내 국가들과 연합을 통해 제한적인 군사훈련과 군비 증강, 영토의 부인의 방식으로 하나의 국가가 패권국가에 대응하여 초래할 수 있는 위험부담을 분산 또는 감소하고 패권국의 군사적 영향력이 역내로 확대되는 것을 견제하고자 한다. 이러한 지표를 통해 중국의 다극화 전략, 중앙아시아 지역의 국가들과의 경제협력과 에너지 협력 그리고 SCO 등 다자기구를 통한 중국과 중앙아시아 국가들 간의 군사안보 협력을 분석한다.