There is quite a bit of research on the impact (or not) of the US Silk Road Strategy Act of 1999, out there on the Internet. For example,
http://www.turkishweekly.net/article/319/the-greater-central-asia-partnership-initiative-and-its-impacts-on-eurasian-security.html
assesses plans and projects of this Act, which was to advance US economic and political interests in Central Asian countries. Ultimately it had minimal impact, died in US Senate in 2006, and was a failed attempt by the US. Here you would ask yourself, why did it fail? Looking at a map, you will see that China and Russia are the closest dominant countries to Kazakhstan. So to explore why the Silk Road Act wasn't successfully implemented, you would look for possible roadblocks, and do a google search with terms such as 'China and Russia response to the US Silk Road Strategy Act".
This would have come up:
http://www.silkroadstudies.org/new/docs/publications/2007/0810starr-afgh-ca.pdf
Here you would understand that Central Asian countries are treading a very delicate path between the major powers, China/Russia vs US/NATO. To align itself with US interests, would put Kazakhstan at odds with its dominant neighbors , traditional ally Russia and emerging power China.
This balancing act by most of the developing countries in Central and South Asia is a central theme of my INTL 5665 class. The failure of the Silk Road Strategy Act resulted in a consolidation of a policy by Central Asian states, to not ally themselves solidly with the economic strategies of the US.
There was a lot of speculation that when Russia entered Ukraine in 2014, Central Asian states would pivot towards the US for military protection. Since then, it has become clear that the government of Ukraine is composed of fascists: http://www.newrepublic.com/article/117692/fascism-returns-ukraine.
