Demographic and Sociocultural Challenges to Cross-Border Cooperation on the Russia–Kazakhstan Border

The integration aspirations of Kazakhstan and Russia seem to many experts a solid basis for development of cooperation in the common borderland. However, scientific studies of recent years convincingly prove that political and economic integration does not automatically ensure the convergence of border regions and development of institutions for cooperation between them. Under these conditions, participants in cross-border interactions are forced to rely on elements of common Soviet heritage that have still been preserved: raw materials and cooperative ties between large enterprises and, in particular, on common culture and values. The objective of the study is to analyze the nature of the influence of demographic and sociocultural trends of recent decades on cross-border cooperation between Russian and Kazakhstan regions. The study showed that the common sociocultural space of the border, on the one hand, undoubtedly creates potential for integration and cross-border cooperation and, on the other, inevitably becomes a matter of concern for states seeking to legitimize their rights to borderland through special linguistic, historical, cultural, and symbolic politics aimed at rallying ethnically and culturally diverse populations into political nations. The policy of Kazakhization, the demographic policy of the Russian and Kazakhstan authorities, as well as the natural course of demographic processes, contributes to divergence of the once unified sociocultural space. Analysis of expert interviews showed that the basis of “unorganized,” “spontaneous” cooperation between the population is still cross-border trade, as well as mutual consumer and tourist trips. The main beneficiaries of this kind of contacts remain Russian regional centers, particularly, million-plus cities, where education and later life are seen as a desirable life trajectory for many young Kazakhstani’s, and above all ethnic Russians. By attracting more and more new immigrants, the largest Russian cities contribute to further polarization and erosion of the sociocultural space of the borderland, which can significantly reduce potential for cooperation and create obstacles to development of cross-border regionalization processes in the long term.