Introduction and Objectives:

In recent decades, public and cultural diplomacy has been one of the important foreign policy tools of governments to strengthen soft power, manage international image, and expand normative influence in the international arena. In the meantime, the governance of the Republic of Kazakhstan, as one of the important actors in Central Asia, has tried to enhance the country's regional and transregional position within the framework of modern public diplomacy by utilizing its identity, cultural, media, and institutional capacities. This article aims to explain the trends, practices, and main drivers of Kazakhstan's public and cultural diplomacy in recent years, as well as to identify factors affecting the future of this field. The theoretical framework of the research is based on the model of modern public diplomacy presented by "Kall" and "Mellisen". The main question of the research is: “What are the trends and practices of Kazakhstan’s public and cultural diplomacy within the framework of the modern public diplomacy approach and what are the most important factors influencing and being influenced by the process of this diplomacy?” This research is based on the hypothesis that; “Kazakhstan’s modern public and cultural diplomacy has been pursued in recent years in a multi-level process that can be adapted in the framework of the Kall and Melisson model, and by understanding the path and factors affecting this modern public and cultural diplomacy, it is possible to explain the interactive capacities and take advantage of this opportunity.”

Method:

The present research was conducted with a mixed approach and uses documentary analysis methods, a review of scientific and policy sources, and expert meeting data. In the future research section, the structural analysis method and MICMAC software were used to identify and analyze the key drivers affecting Kazakhstan’s public and cultural diplomacy. Thus, while extracting effective variables from theoretical literature and documentary-library data, the interrelationships between these variables have been analyzed and their effectiveness and efficiency have been evaluated within the framework of systematic analysis.

Findings:

The research findings show that Kazakhstan's modern public diplomacy is based on a set of identity, cultural, media, and strategic drivers. The most important of these drivers include linguistic and ethnic pluralism, re-creation of national identity, diplomacy of traditional religions, development of media and digital diplomacy, expansion of scientific and educational diplomacy, and adoption of a multilateral and balanced foreign policy. In addition, efforts to develop cultural tourism, strengthen regional interactions in Central Asia, utilize the cultural capacities of the Turkic world, and pay attention to Kazakhstan's cultural position as a crossroads of Eurasian civilization are other important factors in strengthening this country's public diplomacy. The results of the structural analysis show that some of these variables, especially multifaceted foreign policy, multilayered cultural identity, and cultural institutional capacities, are among the strategic and bifaceted factors that play a decisive role in shaping the future of Kazakhstan's public diplomacy.

Conclusion:

According to the research findings, in recent years, Kazakhstan has been seeking to design and implement a coherent model of public and cultural diplomacy that is consistent with the modern public diplomacy approach. Within this framework, multifaceted foreign policy, simultaneous interaction with global and regional powers, and utilization of cultural and identity capacities constitute the main axes of the country's public diplomacy strategy