The United States and the Republic of Kazakhstan established diplomatic relations on December 16, 1991. The United States opened its embassy in Almaty in January 1992 and then relocated to Astana in 2006.
The United States was a critical player in assisting Kazakhstan to dispose of its strategic nuclear weapons stockpile and dismantle its nuclear weapons infrastructure between 1991 and 1996 through the provision of Nunn-Lugar Comprehensive Threat Reduction (CTR) assistance. In the time period between 1992 and 2008, cumulative CTR assistance to Kazakhstan has culminated to $341 million. At the "2012 Seoul Nuclear Security Summit" in March 2012, Presidents Obama and Nazarbayev reaffirmed bilateral cooperation in the areas of nuclear nonproliferation. President Obama went on to say, "The close relationship between our two countries extends beyond just the nuclear security issue, so this meeting will give us an opportunity to discuss the cooperation that we have built over the last several years with respect to Afghanistan and the help we've received in supplying our troops and helping to assist the Afghan government." In addition to nuclear nonproliferation, the U.S. and Kazakhstan maintain strategic economic and political relations. The U.S. oil company, Chevron, became the first major investor in Kazakhstan in 1993 with the establishment of the TengizChevroil joint venture. Through the Bolashak Program, Kazakh students study overseas. Currently, there are over 3,000 Bolashak students around the world of which 800 are studying in 42 universities throughout the United States.
Cooperation strengthened after the September 11, 2001 attacks as the United States sought strategic partners near Afghanistan, and later near Iraq. Counter-terrorism plays an increasingly important role in Kazakhstan's relations with the United States and the United Kingdom, which are at an all-time high. Kazakhstan has taken Uzbekistan's place as the favored partner in Central Asia for both Russia and the United States in the New Great Game.
The two countries closely cooperate in the energy field. In 2001, Kazakhstan and the United States established the U.S.-Kazakhstan Energy Partnership.
According to the 2012 U.S. Global Leadership Report, 28% of Kazakhs approve of U.S. leadership, with 27% disapproving and 45% uncertain.
The United States Department of State is critical of the human rights situation in Kazakhstan, highlighting significant problems and abuses in its annual country report.
In 2016 Kazakhstan and the USA marked 25th anniversary of the Kazakhstan-U.S. relations. To that end, diplomatic missions of both countries launched celebratory events.
Nursultan Nazarbayev congratulated Donald Trump on his victory in presidential election during their phone call on November 30, 2016. The two leaders maintained that they were determined to take "friendly Kazakhstan-American relations to a new level."
Kazakhstan and the United States announced in December 2016 that they reciprocally introduced 10-year business and tourism visas. The announcement was made as the U.S. and Kazakhstan marked the 25th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Strategic Partnership Dialogue
The Strategic Partnership Dialogue is a bilateral dialogue between Kazakhstan and the United States covering wide-ranging discussions on bilateral and regional issues. The first SPD was held in Washington on April 9–10, 2012; the second was held in Washington on July 9, 2013. Kazakhstan Foreign Minister Erlan Idrissov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry are the co-chairs the Strategic Partnership Dialogue.
Ambassador Kairat Umarov provided an update to the SPD in a March 24, 2014 opinion piece in The Astana Times titled Kazakhstan-U.S. Strategic Partnership on the Rise.
The third Strategic Partnership Dialogue (SPD) took place on December 10, 2014, in Washington, D.C. Kazakh Foreign Minister Erlan Idrissov and US Secretary of State John Kerry co-chaired the meeting. The discussions included cooperation on global counterterrorism and counternarcotics issues, nonproliferation, more specifically opening of IAEA LEU Bank in Kazakhstan, EXPO 2017, Kazakhstan's accession to the WTO, and bilateral cooperation in other fields.