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Gaziz Abishev
Political scientist · Kazakhstan · Domestic politics and international relations
I study Kazakhstan’s political system: its formal institutions and the informal balance of power in politics, the bureaucracy, business and society. I comment on Kazakhstan’s domestic politics and international relations for Kazakh and international media.
About
Gaziz Abishev is a Kazakhstani political scientist, commentator and blogger, and a Visiting Fellow at the University of Oxford (2025–2026). He specialises in Kazakhstan’s domestic politics and international relations.
He takes part in national deliberative platforms: the Public Chamber under the Qurultay (since 2026). He has been a member of the National Qurultay under the President of Kazakhstan (2025–2026) and of the Public Chamber of the Mazhilis (2022–2026), and in 2020–2023 a member of the Senate Experts’ Club.
Before turning to academic research, he spent more than a decade in political and economic journalism and public communications: as deputy chief editor of Kursiv, chief editor of OilNews.kz and of the Turan Times news and analysis agency, analyst at the Central Communications Service under the President of Kazakhstan, and adviser to the vice minister for investment and development.
Positions
- Visiting Fellow — University of Oxford (2025–2026)
- Member, Public Chamber under the Qurultay (since 2026)
- Member, National Qurultay under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan (2025–2026)
- Member, Public Chamber of the Mazhilis, Parliament of Kazakhstan (2022–2026)
- Member, Experts’ Club of the Senate, Parliament of Kazakhstan (2020–2023)
Research
I study mechanisms of deliberative democracy in Kazakhstan.
Selected publications
- Abishev, G., Kurmanov, B., & Sabitov, Z. (2024). Authoritarian succession, rules, and conflicts: Tokayev’s gambit and Kazakhstan’s bloody January of 2022 (Qandy Qantar). Post-Soviet Affairs, 40(6), 429–451. DOI
- Abishev, G. (2023). Online petitions as a framework of deliberative democracy in contemporary Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan-Spectrum, 105(1). DOI
- Abishev, G., & Nechaeva, E. (2022). The National Council of Public Trust as a mechanism for implementing deliberative democracy. Kazakhstan-Spectrum, 102(2). DOI
Talks
- “National-patriotic ideology in contemporary Kazakhstan” — Wolfson College, University of Oxford, February 2026
- “Parliamentary reform in Kazakhstan: moving toward an ‘influential parliament’ through a unicameral system” — Wolfson College, University of Oxford, November 2025
Media & commentary
- Carnegie Endowment for International Peace — author page
- Kursiv: on the new leadership of the Adilet party (in Russian)
- inbusiness.kz: response to a Russian political analyst’s threats against Kazakhstan (in Russian)
- Qazinform: “Qurultay became a platform for free exchange of opinions”
Education
- PhD candidate in Political Science — L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University, Astana (doctoral programme completed 2025; dissertation in preparation for defence)
- MSc in Economics — Queen Mary University of London, 2016
- Bachelor of Management — Almaty Academy of Economics and Statistics, 2008
- Master of Mathematics — Pavlodar State Pedagogical Institute (now Margulan University), 2007
- Mathematics Teacher (degree) — Pavlodar State Pedagogical Institute (now Margulan University), 2005
Contact
Media requests, research collaboration and speaking invitations: gazizabishev@gmail.com
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