Defense Reform and Professional Military in The Armed Forces Academy of Uzbekistan

By Col. Murad Ibragimov, Armed Forces Academy of Uzbekistan, and Dr. Gregory Gleason, Marshall Center professor

s the entire system of international rela- Uzbekistan’s nearest neighbors. Defense reform is tions is transformed, Central Eurasia playing a key role in the improvement of foreign is experiencing mounting threats to relations. Improvement in professional military international and regional security. To education in Uzbekistan is one of the fundamental meetA these challenges, Uzbekistan has instituted pillars in the formation of stable and constructive unprecedented reforms across the entire spectrum relations with foreign countries. of government and society, emphasizing defense Sweeping governmental reforms were intro- reform in particular. duced soon after Shavkat M. Mirziyoyev was The unique challenges to international security elected president of Uzbekistan in December 2016. and cooperation brought about by the COVID- Uzbekistan’s reforms had an immediate, discernible 19 pandemic in 2020 have placed a premium on effect on the public atmosphere and soon had an the responsibility, agility and resourcefulness of empirically demonstrable effect on leading indica- governments around the world. The more capable tors of social and economic progress. From his of adaptation and adjustment, the more likely the first days in office, Mirziyoyev brought in a skilled, government is to successfully address the multiple innovative team of government officials to begin security challenges caused by the shifting contours implementing profound reforms in all areas of state of the international security terrain. The modern- development, particularly in defense and security ization of defense capacity requires updating institutions. In the early days of Uzbekistan’s reform doctrine and protocol, but that is not sufficient in programs, new leadership was announced at the itself; defense modernization is not an act but a Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Internal process of continuous improvement. Affairs. The National Security Service was reorga- One of the most salient features of nized as the Uzbek State Security Service in 2018. Uzbekistan’s current defense modernization A key public security organization, the Uzbek program is the government’s deep commitment National Guard, founded in 1994, was greatly to undertake significant and ongoing internal expanded in 2019. The Institute for Strategic reforms and improvements in all spheres of and Regional Studies under the President of the economic, social and governmental affairs. One Republic of Uzbekistan was expanded and given of the government’s highest priorities is improv- new responsibilities as the country’s leading foreign ing relations with foreign countries, particularly policy think tank.

42 per Concordiam An Uzbek soldier stands at attention during Uzbekistan’s Independence Day celebration. Uzbekistan declared independence from the Soviet Union on August 31, 1991. REUTERS

per Concordiam 43 STAFF SGT. STEVEN COLVIN/U.S. ARMY

The success of Uzbekistan’s reforms East and West, North and South. Soldiers from Uzbekistan In addition to improvements in the security-related institu- Uzbekistan’s role in Afghanistan’s and the United States tions, Uzbekistan also undertook a broad and ambitious reconciliation efforts illustrates the train together during the Invisible Sentry exercise in program of modernization in the social and economic country’s importance in the region. , Uzbekistan, in spheres, focused on improvements in the legal and policy In February 2018, Afghan February 2020. framework of commercial activities and the improvement of President Ashraf Ghani chaired the health and social support services. The government began a meeting leading to the Kabul Declaration, making a critical systematic process of liberalizing the economy, first through appeal to warring parties for reconciliation of Afghanistan’s fundamental currency modernization in 2017 and commer- long-enduring conflicts. The United Nations Security Council cial enterprise privatization in 2018. in March 2018 endorsed Ghani’s appeal for the “compre- The effects of improved social and commercial policies hensive and inclusive Afghan-led and Afghan-owned political were soon recognized and applauded by commercial interests process to support reconciliation.” President Mirziyoyev, at and international organizations. For instance, in January 2020 the close of the Tashkent Peace Conference on Afghanistan in World Bank Vice President Cyril Muller, head of the office March 2018, offered to host Afghanistan reconciliation nego- of the European and Central Asian region, observed that tiations in Tashkent. A new phase of Afghanistan reconcilia- Uzbekistan’s lending program had grown to be the second tion negotiations opened, offering new hope to bring an end largest in the region, second only to Turkey. That is signifi- to the country’s 40-year strife. Bad-faith negotiations and divi- cant in itself. The World Bank includes in the European and sive tactics could undermine Afghanistan’s stabilization. This Central Asian region: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, underscores the enduring importance of Mirziyoyev’s insis- Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, tence on an Afghan-led direct dialogue between the Afghan Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Montenegro, North central government and opposing domestic political forces to Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Tajikistan, restore peace and legitimacy. Uzbekistan’s efforts to promote Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. This group of this dialogue and reconciliation process stand out as one of countries includes all the states of the post-Soviet communist the most important current developments in the Central and world. Turkey, of course, was never a communist country, and South Asian region. Uzbekistan’s defense and security reforms most institutions do not categorize it today as either in Europe are a fundamental part of Uzbekistan’s continued contribu- or in Central Asia. If one sets Turkey aside, Muller’s statement tion to peace and security in the region. implies that Uzbekistan, drawing more World Bank lending than all the other countries in the bank’s region, represented Defense reform and professional the largest support portfolio among all the post-communist military education countries that emerged from the Soviet Union’s disintegration. During the Soviet Union’s disintegration, Uzbekistan adopted The importance of Uzbekistan’s economic, social and a number of key national security and defense policies that governmental reforms extends beyond the country’s borders, were focused on protecting the national security of the newly to the entire Central and South Asian region. Uzbekistan established independent state. In May 1992, Tashkent served is playing an increasingly important role in the region as a as the meeting place for the post-Soviet states that adopted rapidly developing and stabilizing factor. In foreign policy, the Collective Security Treaty (CST), an important stabiliz- Uzbekistan occupies a geographical position that bridges ing factor in the final stages of the Soviet Union. In signing

44 per Concordiam the CST, the former Soviet socialist republics set out to build knowledge necessary to implement national security objec- new national security capacities adapted to a new age and a tives. In February 2013, the Ministry of Defense asked the new set of national security requirements. The first years of United States Embassy in Tashkent to assess the Uzbek post-Soviet independence were marked by simply building Armed Forces Academy. At that time, the Uzbek government on existing practices and policies of Soviet military practice. was particularly interested in promoting bilateral cooperation Gradually, the Soviet conventions and practices were over- in the field of military education to promote Uzbekistan’s taken by substantial defense reforms. professional military education (PME). The Office of the For two decades after the fall of the Soviet Union, U.S. Secretary of Defense offered to help develop a program Uzbek military practice was still to a large extent inherited of cooperation in contemporary PME. At roughly the same from the Soviet period. In 2010, the Uzbek government time, the Uzbek Ministry of Defense requested similar officially identified the importance of new practices and assistance from NATO. These Uzbek requests eventu- policies and new ways of thinking about national security. ally resulted in an exchange program called the Defense The Uzbek Armed Forces Academy was identified as the Education Enhancement Program, or DEEP. NATO estab- premier professional military . It was lished a Partnership for Peace Training Center in Tashkent. assigned responsibility to combine the functions of military The U.S., in close consultation with partners, developed educational institutions, including service colleges, staff and a PME program for the Uzbek Armed Forces Academy. command colleges and strategic-level war colleges, into a The thematic for the PME focused on applied topics, such single, leading professional military institution. The current as courses in counterterrorism, civil emergency planning, reforms appear to be reinforcing this trend in the country’s staff officer training and familiarization with international defense reorganization. standards. The U.S. DEEP program was based on demand- In the context of continuing globalization and the trans- driven stimulus, involving consultations and discussions formation of the entire system of international relations, the between U.S. and Uzbek experts in professional military military and political situation in the world is increasingly education. Following the DEEP program, the U.S. govern- characterized by an expansion of the spectrum of chal- ment provided additional support through the Ministry lenges and threats to international and regional security: of Defense Advisor program of the U.S. Defense Security the intensification of geopolitical tensions, and the growing Cooperation Agency. The program provided an ongoing predominance of forceful approaches to resolving conflicts PME specialist physically situated within the Uzbek Armed and crisis situations. Forces Academy as a continuous source of PME exchange. A big step forward was taken when the Defense Doctrine of The initial stages of the DEEP program focused on the Republic of Uzbekistan was adopted on January 9, 2018. It providing new instructional models and new curriculum defines the main characteristics of modern military conflicts: materials. A high priority was placed on shifting from a static to a dynamic instructional model. A static model relies • Preparatory informational and psychological propaganda on one-directional presentation of course material assimi- campaigns aimed at establishing political justification and lated in rote fashion by students. A dynamic model differs shaping international public opinion on the need to use in that, while it includes the presentation of conventional military force to resolve an outstanding dispute. curriculum content, it also presents material in the context of • The use, along with military force, of nonmilitary instructor-student interaction, thereby encouraging analytical measures (political, economic, information-psychological reasoning, appropriate initiative, and the implementation of and others). innovative adult learning technologies including exercise- • The use of high-precision weapons, electronic warfare, based instructional modules. unmanned aerial vehicles and robotic systems, network On the basis of discussions and exchanges, it is clear that automated control systems; the ability to pinpoint targets the PME specialists at the Armed Forces Academy clearly on the entire territory of the opposing side; high mobility recognize and appreciate the importance of understanding and employment of self-sufficient groupings of forces. international standards in teaching methods, in particular • The participation of special operations forces, illegal regarding advanced standards of methodology and judg- armed formations, private military companies and other ment, critical thinking and data-driven evidence. The hired personnel using sabotage and terrorist fighting Uzbek Armed Forces Academy emphasizes the importance methods; broad involvement and high vulnerability of the of interoperability along the lines of international stan- local population. dards. This modern orientation includes the development • The disabling (disruption of functioning) of important of courses on familiarization with NATO’s organization state infrastructure, the destruction of which can trigger and processes, staff planning procedures, counterterrorism large-scale emergency situations, including transborder and civil emergency planning, as well as classes that relate to crises; and a high probability of the rapid transformation technological advances such as advanced distributed learn- of one form of military conflict into another. ing. The inclusion of lessons learned from recent armed conflicts, such as in Afghanistan and Iraq, have provided In terms of implementing the goals of the new defense an important component to the Uzbek Armed Forces doctrine, it is critical to prepare a cadre with the skills and Academy’s modern PME curriculum. o

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