ABSTRACT
How have Uzbekistan’s economic policy choices since independence affected the country’s political development? At the time of independence, the Uzbek economy was more diversified than the economies of the other four Central Asian states. It included agriculture, light industry, heavy industry, and important branches in primary commodities. In the first decade of national independence, the Uzbek government articulated its principal goals as promoting social justice, achieving political stability, and establishing secular rule in accordance with international standards. The Uzbek government committed itself to promoting the growth of a market economy. The Uzbek government also made rhetorical commitments to principles of democracy and public sector accountability. These commitments notwithstanding, the early years of independence witnessed the emergence of a distinctive Uzbek style of rule, drawing partially on Soviet-era practices, partially on development models borrowed from the successful Asian “Tigers,” and partially on the personalistic politics of Uzbekistan’s political leader, Islam Karimov. Uzbekistan’s economic strategy championed stability over market forces, placing state institutions at the hub of financial, commercial, and industrial management. Uzbekistan’s political strategy championed public order over popular participation, leading to the elaboration of a highly authoritarian political order (Karimov, 1998).
