ABSTRACT
This chapter explains briefly why leadership in the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR) perceived the republic as a strategically important actor. It contextualises why Karimov systematically strove for equality of status and the extent to which the period of reform in the USSR seriously undermined the aspirations of local elites. The chapter presents the background against which Karimov rose to power and why he came to reject the reformist path toward which the Soviet Union was headed. It narrates how Tashkent positioned itself throughout the course of the new treaty negotiations. The book shows that the Uzbek SSR was especially attentive to how Yeltsin's Russian Soviet Federal Socialist Republic (RSFSR) was campaigning, always seeking to strengthen its negotiating position in relation to Moscow. The Uzbek SSR was no exception. Although this policy was encouraged throughout Central Asia, it nevertheless helped reinforce the Uzbek SSR's growing sense of strategic importance.
