Asia & Oceania

Uzbekistan

Political journey

Independent from the Soviet Union in 1991, Uzbekistan was ruled for 25 years by the autocrat Islam Karimov, whose government repressed opponents and Islamists. Since 2016 Shavkat Mirziyoyev has opened the economy, freed political prisoners and improved ties with neighbors while keeping tight control of politics.

Uzbekistan today

Its current leader’s position on the ten Caucus dimensions.

💰EconomySlightly free market
State-ledFree market
⚖️Liberty and authorityStrongly authoritarian
LibertarianAuthoritarian
🎭CultureLeaning traditional
ProgressiveTraditional
🌍NationLeaning nationalist
GlobalistNationalist
🌱EnvironmentSlightly growth-first
Growth-firstNature-first
🤖TechnologyLeaning tech-optimist
Tech-cautiousTech-optimist
🕊️War and peaceSlightly strength-first
Peace-firstStrength-first
🏛️InstitutionsLeaning institutional
Anti-establishmentInstitutional
🙏ReligionSlightly secular
SecularReligious
🛡️InterventionismSlightly non-interventionist
Non-interventionistInterventionist

Who leads Uzbekistan today

Portrait of Shavkat Mirziyoyev

Shavkat Mirziyoyev

President of Uzbekistan, 2016 to present

Succeeded Islam Karimov and opened Uzbekistan’s economy and foreign relations while keeping tight political control.

Shavkat Mirziyoyev sits in the right-authoritarian part of the Caucus economy and liberty compass: slightly free market and strongly authoritarian. The clearest positions are strongly authoritarian on liberty and authority, leaning traditional on culture and leaning nationalist on nation.

Full profile of Shavkat Mirziyoyev →

Political views closest to Uzbekistan’s leadership

Countries with similar leadership

Ranked by how close their current leaders are on the ten dimensions.

Country histories are short summaries. Positions are simplified estimates of the leaders included in Caucus as of October 2026, and percentages show how close two profiles are across all ten dimensions.