ASSESSMENTS

Uzbekistan Today: Power Breakdown and Volatility

Dec 31, 2013 | 11:15 GMT

Uzbek President Islam Karimov lays a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Moscow in 2008. Having attempted to balance the clans during his quarter-century rule over Uzbekistan, the real question is whether any new leader can truly replace him.
Uzbek President Islam Karimov lays a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Moscow in 2008. Having attempted to balance the clans during his quarter-century rule over Uzbekistan, the real question is whether any new leader can truly replace him.

(NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA/AFP/Getty Images)

Editor's Note

This is the second of a three-part series on the clans of Uzbekistan. Part 1 examined the history of the clans of Uzbekistan through the Soviet period. Part 2 looks at the relationships and tensions among the clans and how they affect the Uzbek political landscape. Part 3 examines outside players' interests in Uzbekistan and the potential exploitation of the clans' power struggle.

Currently, seven clans rule within Uzbekistan. These seven clans are divided along the 13 provincial lines, meaning that six of the provinces are aligned with or subjugated under the other seven. Of those seven clans, there are three main clans in power -- the same Samarkand, Tashkent and Fergana clans from the imperial and Soviet eras. The four smaller clans -- the Jizzakh, Kashkadarya, Khorezm and Karakalpak -- tend to change alliances....

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