One factor. 2 nations. No similarity.

It has turned into one of the most important, if not the principal, factor of the global and regional geopolitics, the subject of great debates among countries who possess it and those experiencing deficits. In the modern globalizing world, this interconnection between it and geopolitics is rising.

As we know, previously, it was the military power to establish the framework of the character of international relations. Later, the role of religion was regarded as a determining factor. Nowadays it’s oil that plays first fiddle.

One would say governments rich in oil can be sure that their country is going to prosper in the course of the 21^st century. “No! “, I would tell you. Why? Just because my country is an object lesson of the falsity of that statement.

The government always tells people that the Norwegian experience was taken as the basis for the development of the oil sector of our country. Without any comparative analyses, schemes and numbers I can tell you either they work insufficiently or simply almost all revenue from oil export goes into the pockets of senior officials. Why such a conclusion?  Do you observe totally free and yet highly qualified public service here in Kazakhstan, is the level of unemployment at its minimum, can the average salary be compared to that of Norway? By no means, I think. We are not a poor country, but we could be a rich one. Should all revenue be nationalized, we could be. If only Kazakhstan weren’t that corrupted, if only…