Dr. Nursultan Abishevich Nazarbaev, as the first President of Kazakhstan, became the only leader in the former USSR who was able to maintain stability and avoid ethnic conflicts. His political priorities were also quite significant for any observer of massive and critical change in the post-USSR disintegration period in Central Asia. He sought to introduce a market economy and the construction of a democratic law-governed state. This political biography of Dr. Nazarbaev grew out of assimilation of facts, figures, perceptions, opinions and personal interviews with many in Kazakhstan and outside, including Dr. Nazarbaev himself, his close associates, and several authoritative sources, knowledgeable about politics, society and foreign affairs of Kazakhstan.