Uzbekistan among the great powers

Spechler, Dina Rome; Spechler, Martin C.

doi:10.1016/j.postcomstud.2009.07.006

Cited by 14 publications

(5 citation statements)

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“…'Strengthening national independence' has been recognized as their priority since an early survey of Uzbekistan's foreign policy (Bohr 1998). For a more recent and comprehensive discussion of how this has been achieved see Spechler and Spechler (2009). 2.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The foreign policy of Uzbekistan: sources, objectives and outcomes: 1991–2009

Spechler

2010

Central Asian Survey

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The foreign policy of Uzbekistan: sources, objectives and outcomes: 1991–2009

Spechler

2010

Central Asian Survey

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“…He did so partly to dismiss the opposition, particularly members of the Erk and Birlik parties, many of whom were keen on reviving Uzbek cultural authenticity (Markowitz 2009). 3 To that effect, technocratic management was the actual cornerstone of Karimov's political argumentation throughout most of the 1990s (March 2003;Spechler 2008;Spechler and Spechler 2009). It justified why Uzbekistan was delaying rapid reform, unlike the other former Soviet republics.…”

Section: Sm In View Of Karimov's Broader Discoursementioning

confidence: 99%

“…6 Were that not enough, Soviet officials recognized the republic's capacity for regional hegemony (Carlisle 1995), and Moscow continued to do so after the collapse of the USSR, insofar as it balanced against Uzbekistani influence in Central Asia (Allison 2004). Outside the former Soviet space, however, analysts have also alluded to Uzbekistan's potential hegemonic status within Central Asia (Critchlow 1990(Critchlow , 1991Hyman 1993;Cornell 2000;Deyermond 2009;Spechler and Spechler 2009;Megoran 2017).…”

Section: The Status Of Uzbekistanmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This essay is nevertheless concerned with the authorities' use of such rhetoric in the effort to legitimate Uzbekistan's position in world affairs. Karimov, as the ruling President of Uzbekistan for 25 years, offers an especially important lens through which to understand the types of policies, slogans, and approaches that were deemed appropriate (or not) for the enactment of policy (Spechler and Spechler 2009).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Spirituality and anti-Western rhetoric in Uzbekistan in the early 2000s: the consequences of international misrecognition

Fazendeiro

2018

Post-Soviet Affairs

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References to the spirituality-morality (ma'naviyat) of the Uzbek people increased substantially throughout the course of Islam Karimov's years in office as the President of Uzbekistan. Uzbek values were presented as qualities springing from the country's supposedly unique civilizational heritage, cast as something distinct from "Western" civilizational norms and practice. This source of distinctiveness, however, soon gave way to a type of exclusionary discourse in the early 2000s, centered on clearly differentiating Uzbekistan from the "West. " This essay provides a lens through which to understand the phenomenon, arguing that international recognition of status partly accounts for the rise in the particularly anti-Western variant of Karimov's rhetoric. Authorities in Uzbekistan, not unlike in Russia, built their foreign policy on the need to secure the country's (allegedly) important status in the international arena; anti-Western rhetoric arose as a response to misrecognition, as it evaded appeals to equality of status and legitimized growing isolationism. The essay reviews the origins of that rhetoric, the meaning of recognition, and the backdrop against which anti-Western moralizing rhetoric arose in Uzbekistan's international engagement. It also concludes with a brief assessment of how that rhetoric might affect (or not) the foreign policy of Uzbekistan's new president, Shavkat Mirziyoyev. Over Uzbekistan's 25 years of independence, President Islam Karimov referred increasingly to spirituality-morality (ma'naviyat-henceforth SM). By spiritual moralizing rhetoric, I mean talking or writing about the cultural/civilizational status of a certain people, their traditions, practices, and history, and especially how all those combined traits are a source of collective distinctiveness. Taken to the extreme, however, alluding to SM may reach a point where "unique" practices become not only a source of distinction, but also of exclusion. This is what happened to Uzbekistan in the early 2000s; Karimov set Uzbekistan, a country of the "East, " apart from its counterparts in the "West": [An] English intelligence officer said in his time that the East is the East and the West is the West. I will not go into details but he said something to the effect that the West and the East would never come together. It was said back in the 19th century. (quoted in BBC Monitoring International Reports 2005) For Karimov to have taken issue with the "West" in the early 2000s is hardly surprising in light of the international pressure to which Uzbekistan was submitted during the "

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“…Bohr (2004) insisted that after independence in 1991, Uzbekistan has consolidated its position as the regional hegemon, steadily replacing Moscow as the dominant power in Central Asia. Spechler and Spechler (2009) also recognize Uzbekistan as the most powerful state in Central Asia. The only one that borders all others, Uzbekistan considers itself the natural leader of the five post-Communist states.…”

Section: Uzbekistan As a Powerful Statementioning

confidence: 99%