PEACEKEEPING AS A TOOL OF KAZAKHSTAN'S FOREIGN POLICY

Abstract

Unresolved geopolitical conflicts that have emerged since the end of World War II are changing the architecture of Global Security. This contributes to the further deterioration of existing ones and provokes the emergence of new hotbeds of tension around the world. Absence of possibility to resolve the situation between two conflicting parties requires involving a third party, who would act as a mediator with the ability to resolve it, using certain tools, such as peacekeeping operations. Not only internal, but also external factors that have a direct impact on peacemaking have contributed to the development of today's peacekeeping as a mechanism for conflict resolution. Emerging conflicts are becoming more complex, and the approach of participants has changed, as well as the attitude towards peacekeepers. Growing globalization erases borders making them more transparent, and encourages States to respond more actively to events that are taking place in other countries. Involvement in such conflicts has allowed some "actors" to use peacekeeping as a political tool to promote their own interests in conflict zones. These goals are not always positive for the parties directly involved in the conflict situation. The achievement of their goals by the third parties involved can sometimes be radical, which in the end can further worsen the overall unstable existing state between the conflicting parties. Kazakhstan, despite the fact that it is a "newcomer" in the field of peacekeeping, also has the opportunity to promote its initiatives in the international arena through peacekeeping. The article discusses Kazakhstan's activities in this area, as well as possible ways to achieve these goals.