The Book “Uzbekistan’s New Face” is presented in Washington

On Oct. 4, 2018, presentation of the book “Uzbekistan’s New Face”, published by the Institute of Central Asia and the Caucasus (CACI), was held at the Washington National Press Club, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reports with reference to the Embassy of Uzbekistan in the United States.

Opening the event, the CACI director Svante Cornell, one of the co-authors of the book, gave a general description of the book’s content with an emphasis on political, economic, judicial and legal reforms being carried out in Uzbekistan under the leadership of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

In his speech, CACI Chairman and Editor-in-Chief Frederick Starr spoke in detail about the main theses put forward in the book, and expressed his admiration for the unprecedented scale of transformations carried out in the country, which cover almost all areas of the state’s ruling system.

The expert cited convincing examples proving the irreversibility of democratic reforms in Uzbekistan, which, in particular, is evidenced by the improvement of electoral legislation, transfer of legislative initiatives to parliament, significant improvement of political parties and the considerable increase in the number of public organizations. According to Frederick Starr, no state in the world today can compete with Uzbekistan in terms of pace of modernization in the above-mentioned spheres.

As it was emphasized, the book serves as a guide for business circles and investors, primarily from Western countries, and reveals in detail the economic potential of Uzbekistan and the evolving investment climate. In this context, the upcoming maiden visit of the US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross to Uzbekistan in October this year was positively assessed.

Frederick Starr paid special attention to large-scale reforms in religious sphere and said Uzbekistan can serve as a new model for the Muslim world. In particular, he said “President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, pointing out the distinctive feature of the traditions of moderate Hanafi Islam, launched the national idea of enlightened Islam.”

The scientist stated that education remains strictly secular, and reforms in this area require students to better understand the role of secular values and religion in secular society, while at the same time emphasizing tolerance and interfaith dialogue. This goal is also served by the creation, on the personal initiative of the head of state, of the International Research Center named after Imam Bukhari in Samarkand and the Center for Islamic Civilizations in Tashkent.

At the presentation, the attendees were informed that the book “Uzbekistan’s New Face” will be available on the electronic trading platform "Amazon" starting from Oct. 10.