None of this is to say that over three decades, the only support Nazarbaev has enjoyed has come from the state apparatus, the army and the police. No regime can last for so long through police methods alone. Rather, the same boom in the 2000s – which allowed the ruling class to make certain concessions to the working class, bolstering its stability for a time – has also massively strengthened the working class, above all in the oil sector, which has increasingly come into conflict with the regime.