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Justin Schiessler
Most of the country is very industrialized, they have great resources. Work well with other countries in terms of trade agreement or becoming allies. They have the 48th most complex government in the world. Uranium, iron, rolled steel, cement, chemical fertilizer, and consumer goods are just some of their most important exports.With a GDP of 184.4 billion USD. Which is all the good that they export and sell to other countries.
- Just recently in the past five years they have been trying very hard to raise their poverty line and they have, they have done this by increasing their oil sectors and giving jobs to many
- The average pension is about 11,000 tenge, which isn't bad for their country but that's nothing for american money. The national currency is hard to "enforce" because more than 120 nationalities that live in Kazakhstan.
- The currency is not worth much in US dollar (1/64). For every one tenge is 64 US.
-This country does not do good in terms of education, for every 4 kids only one of them gets an education.
- Compared to the US debt, the debt of this country is not bad at all.- 40,000,000,000.
- The country is very industrialized, artistic, modern day, and they are a very appealing country if you have money. The citizens of Kazakhstan are very much cultural, and they also care very much about their arts from music to architecture.
- Kazachastan has spent 2,355,000,000 on war due to terrorists trying to fight againsts the democratic rule of kazakhstan. Including the Soviet union.
http://valikhanov.si.edu/sec1_discover-kaz/sec1_3_kazakhstan.html

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Introduction to Kazakhstan                 Patrick Smith

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Introduction to Kazakhstan                 Patrick Smith

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Kazakhstan was ruled by Russian puppets in 1822 and later directly controlled. During those years the Kazaks tried to fight for independance but could not overthrow Russian domination. Kazakhstan got their independence after the communist takeover of Russia in 1917. In 1920 the Communist took back control of Kazakhstan and in 1925 they set up the Kazakh Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic or the Kazakh SSR. The kazakhstanis were treated very poorly when the Communist took over the country. During Stalins rule, over 1 million Kazakhs died of starvation and about 80% of the country's livestock died out. Kazakhstan became independent as the Soviet Union was collapsing in Dec. 16, 1991.
The country was not prepared to become independent and struggled creating and gaining support for a new government.
http://aboutkazakhstan.com/about-kazakhstan-history
http://kazakhstanproject.weebly.com/kazakhstan-under-ussr-rule.html

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Relationship between the United States and Kazakhstan (Cecilia)

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Relationship between the United States and Kazakhstan (Cecilia)

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-Pretty good relationship, the United States helped Kazakhstan remove nuclear weapons from test sites (U.S. spent $240 million)

-Traded for a long time, U.S. invested $42 billion, Kazakhstan is 83rd largest exporter and 69th largest importer

-No recent conflicts, Kazakhstan helped U.S. during war against Afghanistan (transit routes, airspace for supply missions)
~https://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/5487.htm
~http://www.kazakhembus.com/content/kazakhstan-increases-role-regional-stabilization-u-s-withdraws-afghanistan

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Introduction to Afghanistan                    Patrick Smith 

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Introduction to Afghanistan                    Patrick Smith 

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Afghanistan's government was overthrown by a communist party in 1970 so the USSR started aiding them. However the new government tried to create social reforms and lacked support from the rural population. This led to the invasion of Afghanistan in 1979.
Afghanistan's government was directly controlled by the Soviet Union in 1979 when it sent thousands of troops into Afghanistan and conquered many cities including the capital and gained political control. The Russians were fighting the Mujahideen which were a group of urban people and other insurgencies that Arose against the government. The Afghani people were treated badly during the invasion because most of the rebel groups in Afghanistan were based in the countryside and the Soviets bombed entire villages and crops leaving millions killed and homeless.  The US helped the Mujahideen group by giving them weapons and food. The US also gave the rebel group shoulder launched anti aircraft missiles and with these they shot down a Soviet aircraft almost every day.  Afghanistan gained independence from the Soviet Union in Feb. 15, 1989. After they gained independence, they could not agree on how to share power and a civil war broke out.
https://www.britannica.com/event/Soviet-invasion-of-Afghanistan

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Kazakhstan Government                     Patrick Smith 

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Kazakhstan Government                     Patrick Smith 

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Kazakhstan's government is a Republic under authoritarian presidential rule and its capital is Astana. Kazakhstan includes a executive, legislative, and judicial branch.
President Nursultan Nazarbayev has ruled Kazakhstan since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. Corruption is a big problem in the government.  The president has the majority of the power in the government and is said to have too much power. The constitution of the country allows the president to serve 2 terms of 5 years. The president has however created a referendum that has extended his term.
The legislative branch is controlled by the president and dominated by political parties loyal to the president known as the Nur Otan. The branch is made up of the senate which includes 47 members and the Majlis that includes 107 members.The members of the senate serve a 6 year term while the Majlis serve a 5 year term.
The highest court in the judicial branch is the supreme court of the Republic. this court includes 44 members which are chosen by the president and approved by the senate. This branch is the least developed branch in the government.
http://factsanddetails.com/central-asia/Kazakhstan/sub8_4d/entry-4659.html
https://globaledge.msu.edu/countries/kazakhstan/government

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Justin Schiessler
- Has a very broken government since 1990, they have experienced many hardships when it comes to government and war. They have spent most of their time fighting their own country.
-Though they spend most of their money on their military it's not very useful againsts things like the taliban in which funds many things because of the large numbers of them that there are.
- In 2013, 8 million children joined the taliban. 37% of them were girls,  which is also consisted of 900,000 male students. This means that if they are students then what are they doing instead of school.
- So obviously their education is not the best. The education is all ran by the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. Also there has been several reported gas attacks on all girl schools. These girl schools are privately funded, unlike boys schools, who's funded by the Islamic Emirate.
Main Source- http://www.ipsnews.net/2013/06/education-in-afghanistan-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/
-Their common industrial goods include: Grapes, raw cotton, and insect resins. These industrial goods are very plentiful in Afghanistan and not very plentiful in other countries, so that makes Afghanistan a good trade partner.
- Over the years Afghanistan has tried to improve their poverty line and they have exceedingly, it's not the best but it still has improved. The new and improved poverty line is 37% which is still not very good. They have done this by stopping their major flows of money towards the inconsistent military, in which the citizens are not joining because they join the Taliban, it's nearly a family to them. The Taliban is the major military in the country, not the countries military itself.
https://borgenproject.org/poverty-in-afghanistan/
- The country's national debt is about 162,000,000 in USD so it seems low but that's because USD is worth more money, and it has been accepted as the world's currency. The currency for Afghanistan is the Afghan Afghani.
-The GDP is 19.2 billion.
- Population- 32.53 million.
http://countrymeters.info/en/Afghanistan/economy

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Comparing and Contrasting Kazakhstan and Afghanistan (Cecilia)

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Comparing and Contrasting Kazakhstan and Afghanistan (Cecilia)

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*Difference in Military:
-K: Received nukes from Russia after the Cold War, military spending didn't align with profits, plenty of able-bodied individuals to participate in the military
~http://factsanddetails.com/central-asia/Kazakhstan/sub8_4d/entry-4667.html
- A: Plenty of materials and able-bodied individuals to participate in the military
~http://www.globalfirepower.com/country-military-strength-detail.asp?country_id=afghanistan
*Difference in Governments:
- A: Democratic Rule, elected officials (Islamic Republic)
~http://www.governmentvs.com/en/islamic-republic-definition/model-46-11
-K: Democratic Rule, Executive, Judicial, and Legislative branches
*Geography:
- A: Lots of mountains, deserts, salt flats. A few rivers.
~http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/asia/afghanistan/afland.htm.

- K: Mountains along eastern and southern borders, deserts, lowlands, grasslands, sandy areas, rivers.
~http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/asia/kazakhstan/kzland.htm.

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Afghanistan Government                Patrick Smith 

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Afghanistan Government                Patrick Smith 

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Afghanistan's government is an Islamic Republic and its capital is Kabul Afghanistan also includes a executive, legislative, and judicial branch. The president currently has been Ashraf Ghani since 2014. The president can serve 2 terms of 5 years. The president has the power to chose vice president, national security advisor, and judges.
The legislative branch consists of two houses the House of People and the House of Elders. The House of People is the more powerful of the two groups and can include up to 250 members that serve for 5 years. The House of Elders is the weaker of the two groups and can have up to 102 members.
The Judicial Branch includes a supreme court which includes 9 judges chosen by the president and approved by the House of The People. These judges in the court can serve up to 10 years. The country also struggles with corruption within the government.
President Najibullah Ahmadzai was president from 1986 to 1992 and during his presidency it is said that the KHAD or secret police tortured and executed thousands of people. He withdrawn from the government when rebel groups entered the capital and he was unable to leave the country. In 1996 he was killed by the Taliban.
http://www.understandingwar.org/afghan-government

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Relationship between the United States and Afghanistan (Cecilia)

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Relationship between the United States and Afghanistan (Cecilia)

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-Used to have a good relationship until 9/11, before 9/11 the United States supported mujahideen soldiers actively fighting off the Soviet Union.

-Signed TIFA in 2004 (Trade and Investment Framework Agreement), made it so that they could trade with each other and have investment discussions, trade flow was a result of this

-George W. Bush's "War on Terror" lasted 13 years (2001-2014), one of the longest wars the U.S. has had
~http://www.central-asia-program.org/index.php?en_afmusa_relations

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http://www.central-asia-program.org/index.php?en_afmusa_relations.

http://www.cfr.org/afghanistan/us-war-afghanistan/p20018.

http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/asia/kazakhstan/kzland.htm.

http://www.governmentvs.com/en/islamic-republic-definition/model-46-11

https://www.usip.org/publications/2017/01/current-situation-afghanistan

http://www.worldbank.org/en/country/afghanistan/overview

https://borgenproject.org/poverty-in-afghanistan/

http://atlas.media.mit.edu/en/profile/country/afg/#Trade_Balance.

http://www.heritage.org/index/country/afghanistan.

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https://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/5487.htm.

http://www.kazakhembus.com/content/kazakhstan-increases-role-regional-stabilization-u-s-withdraws-afghanistan.

http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/asia/kazakhstan/kzland.htm.

http://factsanddetails.com/central-asia/Kazakhstan/sub8_4e/entry-4671.html#chapter-9.

https://www.britannica.com/place/Kazakhstan.

http://atlas.media.mit.edu/en/profile/country/kaz/#Trade_Balance.