Educational Programs as an Instrument of U.S. Soft Power Policy in Kazakhstan

Abstract

Soft power policy is part of the foreign policy of any state striving for geopolitical leadership, spreading its influence over other states, which is typical for the United States as one of the important poles of world politics. The education system is one of the areas of implementation of the soft power policy. It is actively used in the United States in developing relations with other countries, including Kazakhstan, even though it competes with the soft power policy implemented through education by countries such as Russia, China, and Turkey. The purpose of the study: to determine the attitude of citizens of Kazakhstan who studied in training programs and short-term courses in the United States to the quality of education within these programs, as well as to the perception of American values transmitted in the learning process. The scientific significance of the work is determined by the disclosure of the role and place of educational programs in the soft power policy of the state. Practical significance is determined by identifying the attitude of citizens of Kazakhstan who have studied in the United States to the political values of this political actor, the formation of loyalty to US policy. Brief description of the research methodology. To identify the attitude of citizens of Kazakhstan who have studied in the United States to the political values of this political actor, to form loyalty to US policy, the methods of interviewing citizens (a total of 7 detailed interviews). Within the framework of the work, the concept is systematized and the place of international education in the policy of soft power is established, the programs implemented by the United States for citizens of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the specifics of the Bolashak program for short-term training of citizens of Kazakhstan in the United States are described. Based on the interviews conducted, it can be understood that in addition to obtaining important professional and general knowledge, students and students studying in the US courses were instilled with those political values that the United States promotes. Most of the respondents have a positive attitude to the educational programs they have completed, accepted and assimilated these values. The value of the study and the practical significance of the results of the work lies in determining the features of the formation of loyalty of citizens who form the political and business elite of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the foreign policy of the United States and the values promoted by the United States.

Keywords: soft power, soft power policy, soft power through education, political influence, political loyalty, US soft power, international education, education in the USA, Central Asia.