UZBEKISTAN'S SELF-RELIANCE 1991-2010 : PUBLIC POLITICS AND THE IMPACT OF ROLES IN SHAPING BILATERAL RELATIONSHIPS Bernardo da Silva Relva Teles Fazendeiro A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of PhD at the University of St Andrews 2013 Full metadata for this item is available in Research@StAndrews:FullText at: http://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/ Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/10023/3966 This item is protected by original copyright This item is licensed under a Creative Commons License Uzbekistan’s Self-Reliance 1991-2010: Public Politics and the impact of Roles in shaping Bilateral Relationships Bernardo da Silva Relva Teles Fazendeiro A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of PhD at the University of St. Andrews 2013 Abstract This thesis applies role theory to understand how Uzbekistan’s bilateral relationships became either conflicting or cooperative between 1991 and 2010. Roles are key elements of social interaction as they describe plausible lines of action in a particular subject-person. They are thus a helpful way of identifying actors and constructing narratives. Furthermore, if they are seen as metaphors for drama, one may argue that roles - as opposed to personal identities - encapsulate autonomous action, which, like a text, ascertains meaning beyond the author’s intent. In other words, by separating action from intent, one may regard politics in a different light - as interaction emplotted by roles -, thereby revealing how actions contradict a set of roles and lead to conflict and crises in public credibility. This manner of emplotting relationships divulges an alternative story that, rather than focusing on Tashkent’s strategic balancing and alignment, demonstrates how Uzbekistani leadership gradually developed an overarching self-reliant role set that shapes its actions. Moreover, Uzbekistan’s cooperative and conflicting relationships are described less in light of strategic survival rationale than as the outcome of gradual role compatibilities arising through time. Therefore, unlike some other accounts, this thesis argues that, throughout Uzbekistan’s first twenty years of independence, public disputes were crucial to understanding interaction and also that Tashkent was never actually aligned with Russia or the United States. To bring forth this argument, the following chapters expound the assumptions behind some scholarly research and develop the concepts of self-reliance, roles, action, public sphere, credibility and narrative. The discussion progresses toward self-reliance and how the concept captures President Karimov’s roles, which are used to emplot Uzbekistan’s interaction with the United States, Russia, Germany and Turkey. The first two are relevant for analyzing whether roles reveal more than the typical accounts based on security balancing. Germany is then included because its relationship with Tashkent was rarely conflicting in the public sphere, allowing it to increase bilateral trade and secure a military base in Uzbekistan after the 2005 Andijan Crisis. It was thus a relatively stable connection, unlike Tashkent’s relationships with Washington and Moscow. Lastly, to control Germany’s middle- power status, the case of Turkey is brought to the fore since Ankara’s willingness to engage with Tashkent was not enough to foster cooperation. 1 1. Candidate’s declarations: I, Bernardo Teles Fazendeiro, hereby certify that this thesis, which is approximately 80.000 words in length, has been written by me, that it is the record of work carried out by me and that it has not been submitted in any previous application for a higher degree. I was admitted as a research student in September 2009 and as a candidate for the degree of PhD in May 2013; the higher study for which this is a record was carried out in the University of St Andrews between 2009 and 2013. (If you received assistance in writing from anyone other than your supervisor/s): I, Bernardo Teles Fazendeiro, received assistance in the writing of this thesis in respect of language, which was provided by Naomi Elizabeth Court, Rev. Dr. Peter Doble and Bridget Gevaux. Date 25-03-2013 signature of candidate ……… 2. Supervisor’s declaration: I hereby certify that the candidate has fulfilled the conditions of the Resolution and Regulations appropriate for the degree of ……… in the University of St Andrews and that the candidate is qualified to submit this thesis in application for that degree. Date 25-03-2013 signature of supervisor ……… 3. Permission for electronic publication: (to be signed by both candidate and supervisor) In submitting this thesis to the University of St Andrews I understand that I am giving permission for it to be made available for use in accordance with the regulations of the University Library for the time being in force, subject to any copyright vested in the work not being affected thereby. I also understand that the title and the abstract will be published, and that a copy of the work may be made and supplied to any bona fide library or research worker, that my thesis will be electronically accessible for personal or research use unless exempt by award of an embargo as requested below, and that the library has the right to migrate my thesis into new electronic forms as required to ensure continued access to the thesis. I have obtained any third-party copyright permissions that may be required in order to allow such access and migration, or have requested the appropriate embargo below. The following is an agreed request by candidate and supervisor regarding the electronic publication of this thesis: Add one of the following options: (i) Access to printed copy and electronic publication of thesis through the University of St Andrews. Date 25.03- 2013 signature of candidate signature of supervisor ……… 2 Acknowledgements No four year journey in St Andrews can be made alone and so I am very grateful to so many people for making this thesis possible. First and foremost, I am thankful to my supervisor, Professor Sally Cummings, for accepting my original research proposal and for the amazing diligence and advice. Your attention to clarity and the intricacies of presentation was crucial for me to realize that a thesis, despite the importance of the thought-process, is written on paper. I am also grateful for the opportunity to organize with you the workshop on Sovereignty After Empire. Those days of discussion opened my eyes to the complexities of publishing and the importance of academic debate. For deepening my interest in Uzbekistan and its wonderful language and culture, I am greatly indebted to Dr Mohira Suyarkulova, who was an excellent teacher during my first year in St Andrews. Similarly, I am grateful to Sherzod Mukhamadiev, who in 2010/2011 helped me practice Uzbek and also to Ned Conway for his great practical advice on research and publishing. I am also deeply indebted to Fundação da Ciência e Tecnologia for granting me a research scholarship, which allowed me to have four years of financial security in a time of recession in Portugal. Additionally, I was fortunate enough to have met several people to discuss some of my ideas. I want to thank Dr John Heathershaw and Kemel Toktomushev for organizing the 2012 Exeter Post-Graduate Conference on Central Asia, from which I obtained valuable feedback, alongside meeting some wonderful people. I am also indebted to Revd Dr Peter Doble, who took time from his busy schedule to read one of my chapters and supply me with very relevant feedback. Given that a thesis cannot come about without discussion, the St Andrews Research Seminars were also essential, and therefore I am very grateful to Hans Lindenlaub and Francesco Belcastro for organizing the events. Indeed, perhaps to convey once more how grateful I am to having had opportunities to discuss politics and theory, I confess that I was a very happy member of the 2012/13 ‘Whey Pat Gang’, more formally known as the International Political Theory reading group. Thanks John-Harmen Valk, Hans Lindenlaub and Antonio Di Biagio for the hours discussing political theory, accompanied by refreshing ale. Your insights during the Research Seminars were also crucial. I also wish to thank Professor Nick Rengger for being present in many of those discussions, always contributing to a lively and more insightful discussion. St Andrews has been the beginning of what I hope to be life-long friendships, which always inspire any thesis. Thank you Sandro Megrelishvili, Nika Khazaradze, Miras Medenica, Giorgi Kiladze, Asset Omirzhanov and Dima Bogomolov for three great years of football. ‘Joga Bonita’ is a legend, even if only in my mind. Also, I am very happy to have met Miguel dos Santos with whom I engaged in a deep philosophical debate about the ontological priority of Ronaldo over Messi. Additionally, I will always remember conversations with Clara Eroukhmanoff on a little bit of everything. Likewise, my occasional visits to Kilrymont Castle, hosted by those larger than life Salam Akmouci, Dominik Scotfalda, Yannick Suchert and Valeria Fadda, provided me with countless and excellent memories. Thank you all for your friendship and support. I also cannot forget to mention João Farinha, Pedro Chaves, Tiago Pires and Ricardo Capelo for always being there when need be, because my life after all extends beyond St Andrews. I reserve this last paragraph for the four most important people of my life: my mother Maria Teresa Silva Relva, my father Fernando Teles Fazendeiro, my sister Joana Teles Fazendeiro and of course Naomi Elizabeth Court. I am so grateful, Naomi, for all the patience in reading these chapters and, more importantly, for three amazing years in Scotland. I cannot picture how St Andrews would have been with you. As for my family, I am so lucky to have you always there with me and for your advice, no matter the distance.