Uzbekistan after Karimov
LONDON (TCA) — Will the death of Uzbekistan’s longstanding ruler cause an “Uzbek Spring” with room for more public input and a less oppressive state apparatus, without hollowing out the state itself? As things look, the disappearance of one of the last remaining “Soviet heirs” and his replacement is an affair to be settled within a very narrow circle of men-behind-the-throne. That does not mean, however, that things on a slightly longer term could not change for the better.
