SUMMARY
The Republic of Uzbekistan was a Soviet successor state; the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR) declared its independence in September 1991. Uzbekistan has been a consolidated authoritarian regime since independence, and President Islam Karimov, the former First Secretary of the Uzbek Communist Party, ruled the country from independence until his death on 2 September 2016; he was officially replaced by Shavkat Mirziyoyev in December 2016. The Uzbek presidency dominates all aspects of political life, and civil rights are wholly dependent on the discretion of the executive branch.
Karimov’s regime, which in essence was just a continuation of the old Soviet regime, has effectively undercut all democratic development by vigorously repressing all domestic, including secular, opposition. In the first years of his rule, Karimov attempted to use Islamic revival (about 90 percent of Uzbekistan’s population is Sunni Muslim) as a unifying force, undertaking a hajj to Mecca and swearing the presidential oath on a Qur’an; such sentiments however soon turned to increased control over religious organizations.
Following an attempt at his life 16 February 1999, an attack attributed to the IMU by the regime, President Karimov decided to crack down against the political opposition and religious Muslims under the pretext of mounting threats from religious extremism. The Uzbek government had begun its efforts to eliminate religion as a source of political opposition already in 1992, when it banned the informal Islamist group Adolat and arrested many of its members. In general, the Government of Uzbekistan subjected Islamic religious practice and domestic religious groups to high levels of repression in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Following the attacks carried out by JIG in 2004, the Government of Uzbekistan launched a new round of repression, again specifically targeting Muslims.
In general, the Government of Uzbekistan possessed a far more capable military than its Central Asian neighbors, such as Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. In the late 1990s and early 2000s Uzbekistan displayed, as a result of its relatively large military capacity, chauvinism in its foreign policy towards its neighboring states. In fighting IMU forces, the Uzbek government undertook unilateral military action in neighboring states, for example sending its air force to attack targets on Kyrgyz and Tajik territory.
In 2000, Russia offered military technical assistance to Uzbekistan, following incursions by the IMU into Uzbek territory; Russia did not provide military troops to help Uzbekistan. Uzbek authorities also developed its cooperation with Kyrgyzstan to meet the threat posed by groups like the IMU. Following the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington on 11 September 2001, Uzbekistan became a key strategic ally to the United States in the latter’s military operations in Afghanistan (see Afghanistan: Government). For example, Uzbekistan granted the United States the right to deploy troops on its territory. Uzbekistan also cooperated with the U.S.-led antiterrorism campaign, in return for financial assistance.
