ASSESSMENTS

Uzbekistan Comes in From the Cold

Nov 5, 2019 | 10:30 GMT

Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev listens during a joint press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel prior to a meeting on Jan. 21, 2019, in Berlin.

Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev listens during a joint press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel prior to a meeting on Jan. 21, 2019, in Berlin. Tashkent's engagement with the world presents both good and bad for Uzbekistan.

(TOBIAS SCHWARZ/AFP via Getty Images)

Highlights

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  • Under President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Uzbekistan is abandoning its traditional isolationism and becoming an increasingly important player in the dynamic relationship among Russia, China and, to a lesser degree, the U.S. 
  • Uzbekistan will be more open to increasing economic and security ties with Russia, even as it makes parallel overtures to China and Western countries to diversify its foreign policy.
  • Tashkent's transformation will play an important role in fostering greater economic and security cooperation within Central Asia.
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For years, isolationism guided Uzbekistan's interactions with the wider world. Now, however, reforms stemming from a political succession in Central Asia's most populous country are reverberating far beyond Tashkent. As part of its political evolution, Uzbekistan has strengthened cooperation within Central Asia while also becoming an increasingly attractive partner for Russia, China, and the United States as they engage in a strategic competition for influence and investment in the region. The opening presents significant opportunities for Uzbekistan to expand its economic and security outreach to its neighborhood, yet the changes also pose risks, as the competition among these larger powers could pull the country in directions it doesn't want to go....

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