Japan’s normative power in central Asia: Norms, development cooperation, and the long-lasting partnership

The purposes of this research are threefold. First, it revisits the “normative powers in Central Asia” debate, which largely ignores an important stalwart supporter of the rule-based international order—Japan. The traditional exclusion of Japan often appears to be related to the belief that Japan plays second (if not third) fiddle at best and has limited power to influence developments in the region. While this thinking for the most part continues to organize much that is written about Japan–Central Asia relations, this article asserts that Japanese normative power should be taken more seriously than many studies understand. Second, using a combination of document analysis (in Japanese, Kazakh, Russian and English) and key stakeholder interviews, it examines how Japan socializes Kazakhstan into a set of norms of appropriate behavior in the field of foreign aid. Finally, highlighting that Kazakhstan embraces a hybrid identity as an official development assistance provider, this study asserts that Japan’s ODA has become a key reference model for Kazakhstan.