Svante E. Cornell, ed

Constitutional Amendments and the Rule of Law

Mjuša Sever

The last three years were very challenging not just for Uzbekistan and the Central Asia region, but globally. The first shock was the Covid-19 pandemic, which substantially delayed in-person cooperation and switched the focus of the government and population to the medical emergencies for most of 2020. This was followed by another shock, when the U.S. and the international community implemented the withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021. Uzbekistan continues to play a major role in strengthening Central Asia as a region, also being among the few international actors to keep intensive contacts with the Afghanistan temporary government, thus playing a very important role in securing international stability and security. In the beginning of 2022, a third shock rocked the region – the riots in Kazakhstan, followed by the CSTO intervention to restore stability there. These events, which remain to be fully investigated or explained, led to significant changes in the government and top leadership of Kazakhstan, including the marginalization of the country’s former President and his entourage.
An issue well noticed in Uzbekistan during this period was the direct threats to Uzbekistan articulated by Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko during an unusual live meeting of CSTO presidents, stating that Uzbekistan could be the next to experience such events. It should be noted that Uzbekistan left the CSTO in 2012, precisely for the reason of opposing such international interventions into a sovereign country. Then came February 24, 2022, and the Russian invasion in Ukraine. Uzbekistan decided to continue its declared “multifaceted” foreign policy and to step up its intensive outreach to all parts of the globe. The country’s leadership
continued to implement domestic reforms and intensified foreign policy activities also in the Central Asian region. Additionally, it significantly expanded its efforts to provide alternative transit corridors for foreign trade through Afghanistan and Pakistan, researched options for a new route through the Caspian, and even through the Middle East. It intensified its efforts to become a member of the WTO, strengthened its relations with the EU and with the U.S., as well as with Canada and Brazil.