Following the death of Uzbekistan’s President Islam Karimov, in September 2016, his successor, Shavkat Mirziyaev, has begun cautiously reversing many of his predecessor’s nationalist policies. Among the most striking turnarounds to date is the joint five-day Russian-Uzbekistani military exercise, which began on October 3, at... MORE

Until September 4, 2017, the president of Uzbekistan had not paid a state visit to Kyrgyzstan in 17 years. But Uzbekistan’s new head of state, Shavkat Mirziyaev, is determined to build a “security belt” around his country. And this has served as a catalyst to... MORE

For most of the last two decades, specialists on Central Asia have asked what will happen when one or another of its longtime authoritarian leaders passes from the scene. Many have made particularly dire predictions, including a descent into chaos or the rise of a... MORE

After the change of leadership in Uzbekistan, it has been widely acknowledged that the country’s new president, Shavkat Mirziyaev, is pursuing a more proactive and constructive regional diplomacy in Central Asia than his predecessor (see EDM, October 26, 2016; December 15, 2016). Along with Mirziyaev’s... MORE

On May 30, troops from Russia and Tajikistan launched Dushanbe-Anti-Terror-2017—the final stage of a six-part exercise held in six different countries, including Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Belarus, which began on May 23 (Avesta, May 24). Involving 2,000 personnel, the exercises concluded on June 1. Military... MORE

President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyaev’s five-day trip to China earlier this month (May 11–15) has signaled that he is now moving on from the first phase of his foreign policy activities (Ng.ru, May 11). Since President Mirziyaev took office last December, priority was first accorded... MORE

China hosted a major international gathering on May 14 and 15. Over a thousand delegates from 110 countries, including 29 world leaders, flocked to Beijing to attend the so-called One Belt, One Road Summit. The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was first proposed by Chinese... MORE

It takes three separate diplomatic efforts for three countries to sign three bilateral strategic partnership agreements. That is exactly what happened over the past four years in Central Asia: first Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan signed a strategic partnership in June 2013; then Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan concluded... MORE

Uzbekistan’s new head of state, President Shavkat Mirziyaev made his first official visit to Moscow, on April 4–5. Though the visit was in fact the Uzbekistani leader’s third foreign trip as president, after traveling to neighboring Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan, Russian commentators nevertheless called it Mirziyaev’s... MORE

Three months since his election last December, Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyaev made his first official trip abroad, visiting neighboring Turkmenistan on March 6–7. The visit put an end to rampant speculation about where his maiden foreign trip would take him. Some, for instance, had expected... MORE