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PArT V. UZBEK forEIgN PolIcY: moVES ANd STABIlITY
flexibility or Strategic confusion?  
foreign Policy of Uzbekistan
farkhod Tolipov
1
 (2014)
Observers tend to describe Uzbekistan’s foreign pol-
icy in terms of fluctuation, pro- and anti-biases; fur-
thermore, some have even evaluated it as flexible and 
maneuvering. However, the analysis of the Uzbek 
international behavior reveals more of a fundamen-
tal problem, namely a lack of strong understanding 
of national interests. As evidence of this, I can point 
to the considerable gap between the declared Uzbek 
policy principles and their actual implementation.
The modality of any foreign policy activity is 
predetermined by the nature and character of the in-
ternational system. At the same time, it depends to 
a significant degree on policy makers’ perceptions 
of this system. Such notions as “bipolar,” “unipolar,” 
or “multipolar” world order prevails not only with-
in Uzbekistan’s foreign policy institutions, but also 
within global academia. The swift dissolution of the 
Soviet Union and Central Asia’s advent into world 
politics has had a twofold impact on geopolitical 
thought: on the one hand, these events reinforced 
once again geopolitical narratives, contemplations, 
and speculations after a long period of relative geo-
political stability; so geopolitics became the “ultimate 
explanatory tool” in the overall analyses of the post- 
Soviet transformation. On the other hand, theoret-
ical transformation is underway within the field of 
geopolitical studies itself. These new circumstances 
have created wide spread confusion among political 
scientists dealing with Central Asia, as well as among 
local political regimes whose attempts to pursue their 
own geopolitics—micro-geopolitics of micro-heart-
lands—have also modified the macro-geopolitics of 
great powers.
2
In this respect, the Central Asian states’, espe-
cially Uzbekistan’s, foreign policy doctrines are pro-
nounced by negative and positive diversifications. 
Negative diversification revitalizes the classical bal-
ance of power in international relations and the ze-
ro-sum game between great powers at the expense 
of the Central Asians. Positive diversification avoids 
the zero-sum approach and is inclusive in character: 
it means not only the equal involvement of external 
powers but also, what is more important, the coordi-
nated policy of the Central Asian states themselves. 
From this perspective, Tashkent’s pendulum-like in-
ternational behavior bears rather a trait of negative 
diversification.
The first concept of a Foreign Policy of the 
Republic of Uzbekistan, adopted in 1993, declared 
such principles as: non-participation in any mili-
tary-political bloc; active participation in interna-
tional organizations; de-ideologization of foreign 
policy; non-interference in internal affairs of other 
states; supremacy of international law and priori-
ty of national interests. The second Foreign Policy 
Concept was adopted in September 2012 and de-
clared, among others, 4 “no”s: no to deployment of 
foreign bases in Uzbekistan; no to the membership 
in any military bloc; no to the participation in inter-
national peace-keeping operations; and no to medi-
ation of any external power in the resolution of re-
gional conflicts in Central Asia. This policy affirms a 
“national interests first” principle, but does not make 
clear whether and why national interests dictate four 
such “no”s and what the national interests by-and-
large are. One of Tashkent’s recent foreign policy 
“innovations” is the shift to bilateralism as the key 
principle of its international and regional actions, 
which means that the country now aims to deal with 
major international and regional issues on a bilateral 
level. On the functional level, however, the foreign 
pol icy of Uzbekistan has been more convoluted and 
controversial than what is declared on the doctrinal 
level. This policy can be delineated by three sets of 
1 Director, Non-governmental Education Institution “Bilim Karvoni,” Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
2 F. Tolipov, “Micro-Geopolitics of Central Asia: An Uzbekistan Perspective,” Strategic Analysis 35, no. 4 (2011): 629-639.

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Farkhod Tolipov