Kazakhstan and the United States established relations as Kazakhstan gained independence from the Soviet Union. Since then, the two nations have collaborated in fields such as trade, security, nuclear non-proliferation, and counterterrorism. While seeking to maintain and grow positive relations, the United States remains critical of Kazakhstan's human rights record.

Overview The United States and the Republic of Kazakhstan established diplomatic relations on 26 December 1991. The U.S. opened its embassy in Almaty in January 1992 and relocated it to Astana in 2006.

The U.S. 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. By 2008, cumulative CTR assistance to Kazakhstan totaled approximately US$341 million. At the 2012 Seoul Nuclear Security Summit, Presidents Barack Obama and Nursultan 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 United States 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. In 2001, Kazakhstan and the United States established the U.S.–Kazakhstan Energy Partnership.

Through the Bolashak Program, Kazakh students are able to study overseas. As of June 2014, the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan reported that it had over 3,000 students around the world, of which 800 were studying in 42 universities throughout the U.S.

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.Running A Huge Risk Center for Defense InformationJoint Statement Between the United States of America and the Republic of Kazakhstan The White House Kazakhstan has taken Uzbekistan's place as the favored partner in Central Asia for both Russia and the U.S. in the New Great Game.Boris Shiryayev, Großmächte auf dem Weg zur neuen Konfrontation?. Das "Great Game" am Kaspischen Meer: eine Untersuchung der neuen Konfliktlage am Beispiel Kasachstan, Verlag Dr. Kovac: Hamburg 2008Five Years After 9/11: Crackdowns loom behind Central Asia's War On Terror RadioFreeEurope/RadioLibertyKazakhstan: President looks to build on alliance with Putin RadioFreeEurope/RadioLibertyU.S. envoy touts Kazakhstan's post-Soviet advances SignOnSanDiego

According to the 2012 U.S. Global Leadership Report, 28% of Kazakhs approved of U.S. leadership, with 27% disapproving and 45% uncertain.U.S. Global Leadership Project Report - 2012 Gallup

In 2016, Kazakhstan and the U.S. marked the 25th anniversary of Kazakhstan–U.S. relations by launching celebratory events, including the announcement of reciprocal 10-year business and tourism visas.

Nursultan Nazarbayev congratulated Donald Trump on his victory in the 2016 United States presidential election during their phone call on November 30 of the same year. The two leaders maintained that they were determined to take "friendly Kazakhstan–American relations to a new level."

According to a Reuters report, the U.S. ran a propaganda campaign to spread disinformation about the Chinese company Sinovac Biotech's COVID-19 vaccine, using fake social media accounts to claim that the Sinovac vaccine contained pork-derived ingredients and was therefore haram under Islamic law. Kazakhstan was among the Central Asian countries targeted in the campaign, which ran from the spring of 2020 to mid-2021.

Strategic Partnership Dialogue The Strategic Partnership Dialogue (SPD) is a bilateral dialogue between Kazakhstan and the U.S. covering wide-ranging discussions on bilateral and regional issues. The first SPD was held in Washington D.C. on April 9–10, 2012; the second on July 9, 2013. Kazakhstan Foreign Minister Erlan Idrissov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry were the co-chairs of 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 SPD took place on December 10, 2014, in Washington, D.C., where Idrissov and Kerry again co-chaired the meeting. The discussions included cooperation on global counterterrorism and counternarcotics issues, nonproliferation; in specific, the opening of an IAEA Low-Enriched Uranium Bank in Kazakhstan, Expo 2017, Kazakhstan's accession to the World Trade Organization, and bilateral cooperation in other fields.

On November 2, 2015, John Kerry visited Astana, where he launched the fourth SPD. The sides discussed the war in Donbas, underscoring their support for the Minsk process. Both sides pledged to deepen their cooperation in countering the threats of ISIL, terrorism, and violent extremism. The next session of the fourth SPD was held in Washington, D.C., on March 9, 2016, and covered a range of issues including: international and regional affairs, security cooperation, economic cooperation, governance, rule of law, and labor and human rights in Kazakhstan.

The fifth SPD took place on September 20, 2016, in New York City, on the margins of the 71st United Nations General Assembly. In a joint statement after the discussions, Idrissov and Kerry assessed that the strategic partnership between the two countries had never been stronger.

Afghanistan and regional integration The U.S. looked to Kazakhstan to provide strategic support and regional influence in promoting peace and security in Afghanistan in the wake of U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan.

The U.S. welcomed Kazakhstan's leadership role in supporting security in Afghanistan and the region, including through its assistance to the Afghan National Security Forces and contribution to the Istanbul Process. The U.S. valued Kazakhstan's $50 million scholarship program to educate one thousand Afghan students in Kazakhstan's universities. The U.S. welcomed Kazakhstan's economic connectivity efforts, in particular, its investments in regional infrastructure such as the Kazakhstan–Turkmenistan railroad and the Caspian seaport of Aktau. The U.S. said that it and Kazakhstan will continue to work closely together to support stability, peace, and prosperity in Afghanistan and the region.

In a 2014 interview with Kazakh TV, Fatema Z. Sumar, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, said that Kazakhstan had an important role in supporting the region, especially Afghanistan, in a transition towards stability and prosperity.

Nuclear security and nonproliferation Former United States President Barack Obama repeatedly emphasized Kazakhstan's important leadership role in global nuclear disarmament. The U.S. and Kazakhstan reaffirmed their shared commitment to prevent the spread of weapons of mass destruction. Threat reduction and nonproliferation remains a cornerstone of the two countries' joint efforts to ensure global and regional security. The U.S. welcomed Kazakhstan's efforts to establish a regional Nuclear Security Training Center in Kazakhstan. The U.S. supported Kazakhstan's offer to host an IAEA Low-Enriched Uranium Bank. The Obama administration worked closely with the Nazarbayev administration to finalize the agreement for Kazakhstan to host the IAEA fuel bank, which concluded in 2015.

Under the Cooperative Threat Reduction program, the U.S. spent $240 million to assist Kazakhstan in eliminating weapons of mass destruction and related infrastructure.

During the 2014 Nuclear Security Summit at The Hague, Obama and Nazarbayev issued a joint statement confirming their shared commitment to nonproliferation and strengthening nuclear security. The Joint Statement went on to state:

The United States of America welcomes the Republic of Kazakhstan's activities to strengthen nuclear security and implement decisions of the Washington and Seoul Nuclear Security Summits, including by converting the VVR-K research reactor at the Institute of Nuclear Physics (INP) to low enriched uranium (LEU) fuel, downblending the INP's highly enriched uranium (HEU) material and removing the HEU spent fuel from the reactor. The United States and Kazakhstan will continue to work together to convert Kazakhstan's remaining HEU reactors to LEU fuel and eliminate all remaining HEU research reactor fuel as soon as technically feasible.

The 2016 Nuclear Security Summit (NSS 2016) took place on March 31–April 1, 2016, in Washington, D.C. Nazarbayev addressed the Summit, saying that Kazakhstan is regarded as one of twenty countries to have the highest level of security of nuclear facilities and materials. Within the framework of the NSS 2016, Kazakhstan and the U.S. adopted the joint statement on cooperation in the sphere of non-proliferation and nuclear security. The sides also reiterated their overall commitment to continue practical cooperation in that sphere.

Common initiatives The U.S. and Kazakhstan have many common interests in the field of non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. On August 29, 1991, when Nazarbayev closed down the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site, it has since been a leader in the movement for non-proliferation. In this capacity, it has worked closely with the United States to advance non-proliferation further. In 2006, it joined with its Central Asian neighbors Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan to affirm that the entire region would forever be a nuclear weapons-free zone. The U.S. initially opposed this due to concerns that it would exclude the transport of nuclear material across the region but later provided its endorsement. Kazakhstan has also educated a younger generation that is open to the world, oriented towards free and legal markets, and eager to participate in the affairs of their government through normal democratic channels. During a 2015 visit to Astana, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry stated that Obama appreciated Nazarbayev's leadership on issues of nuclear nonproliferation and countering violent extremism.

Nuclear training The U.S. is working with Kazakhstan to develop a Nuclear Security Training Center (NSTC) in order to improve indigenous security and safeguard training capabilities for all nuclear facilities in Kazakhstan. The NSTC aims to teach nuclear personnel how to strengthen their material protection, control, and accounting and countering nuclear and radioactive trafficking. U.S. Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration (DOE/NNSA) support includes constructing and equipping the NSTC as well as curriculum development for physical protection and material control and accounting specialists. The current projected completion date is before the end of 2015. The U.S., led by its Department of State and in coordination with its Departments of Energy and Defense, is collaborating with Kazakhstan to develop a curriculum to counter nuclear smuggling at the center and other related nuclear security training.

Uranium removal