Grokipedia has the interesting phrase 'authoritarian upgrading' in its entry for Uzbekistan.
Despite economic progress, Uzbekistan retains authoritarian characteristics under Mirziyoyev, with limited political pluralism and state control over key institutions. Press freedom has deteriorated, with Uzbekistan ranking 148th out of 180 countries in the 2025 World Press Freedom Index, its score falling from 37 to 35 points, amid economic pressures on independent media and efforts to co-opt bloggers. Reforms have improved some human rights areas, such as reducing forced labor, but core controls persist, including restrictions on opposition and media, indicating authoritarian upgrading rather than substantive democratization.
Here's another interesting phrase - 'there's a lot of it about'.
3 comments:
Right, the Uzbekhs are off my bucket list.
Despite that, it's a lovely place to visit. And in fact, a bit of determined control has its pluses: for one thing all the Imams in Uz are licenced by the state, and can be (have been) removed if they start any Islamic fundamentalist nonsense. Uz has a border with Afghanistan too, and any incursions of nutters from there are confined in camps and then sent back.
It's not all bad.
James - mine too, but I'm no traveller.
Peter - that's interesting, something for Farage to investigate but he probably won't. I've never visited anywhere in Central Asia but the whole region sounds interesting, generally keen to develop and preserve culture at the same time.
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