FOREIGN
RELATIONS
Uzbekistan is a member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the United Nations, the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council, NATO Partnership for Peace, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), and the Economic Cooperation Organization--comprised of the five Central Asian countries, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. In 1999, Uzbekistan joined the GUAM alliance (Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, and Moldova), which was formed in 1997 (making it GUUAM), but formally withdrew in 2005. Uzbekistan hosts the Shanghai Cooperation Organization's (SCO) Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) in Tashkent. Uzbekistan is a founding member of the Central Asian Union, formed with Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan (and which Tajikistan joined in March 1998). In 2002, Uzbekistan joined the Central Asian Cooperation Organization (CACO), which also includes Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. In 2006, Uzbekistan joined the Eurasian Economic Community (EurASEC), comprising Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, but subsequently withdrew in 2008.
Uzbekistan participated in the CIS peacekeeping force in Tajikistan and in UN-organized groups to help resolve the Tajik and Afghan conflicts, both of which it viewed as posing threats to its own stability. Uzbekistan is a supporter of U.S. efforts against worldwide terrorism and joined the coalition combating terrorism in Afghanistan. It continues to support coalition anti-terrorist operations in Afghanistan by granting access to Germany to an air base in southern Uzbekistan.
Uzbekistan has actively participated in regional efforts to combat terrorism and the narcotics trade. It has maintained close ties to Russia, while also seeking to balance this with stronger ties to China and other powers. In November 2005, Uzbekistan signed a mutual defense treaty with Russia.
U.S.-UZBEK
RELATIONS
The U.S. recognized the independence of Uzbekistan on December 25, 1991, and opened an Embassy in Tashkent in March 1992. U.S.-Uzbek relations developed slowly and reached a peak following the U.S. decision to invade Afghanistan following the September 11, 2001 terror attacks. Relations cooled significantly following the "color revolutions" in Georgia, Ukraine, and Kyrgyzstan in 2003-2005, and the Government of Uzbekistan sought to limit the influence of U.S. and other foreign non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working on civil society, political reform, and human rights inside the country. Relations deteriorated rapidly following U.S. and European demands for an independent, international investigation into the May 2005 Andijon violence.
Relations have improved since the second half of 2007 as both the United States
and Uzbekistan sought re-engagement under the terms of the March 2002
Declaration of Strategic Partnership between the two countries. The declaration
covers not only security and economic relations but political reform, economic
reform, and human rights. Uzbekistan has Central Asia's largest population and
is vital to U.S., regional, and international efforts to promote stability and
security.
Bilateral
Economic Relations
Trade
and investment.Trade relations are regulated by a bilateral trade agreement, which entered into force January 14, 1994. It provides for extension of most-favored-nation trade status between the two countries. The U.S. additionally granted Uzbekistan exemption from many U.S. import tariffs under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP status) on August 17, 1994. A Bilateral Investment Treaty was signed December 16, 1994; it has been ratified by Uzbekistan and received advice and consent of the U.S. Senate in October 2000. However, the Bilateral Investment Treaty will be unlikely to enter into force until Uzbekistan embarks on economic reform. The government is taking some modest steps to reduce the bureaucratic restraints on the nascent private sector.
Assistance.
The United States' humanitarian and technical assistance to Uzbekistan has decreased markedly since 2004, both as a result of government actions against U.S. implementing partners and U.S. Government restrictions on aid. Since its independence, the U.S. has provided technical support to Uzbekistan's efforts to restructure its economy and to improve its environment, education, and health care system, provided support to nascent NGOs, and provided equipment to improve water availability and quality in the Aral Sea region. Through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Embassy's Public Affairs Section, the U.S. Government continues to support educational and professional exchanges and other programs that offer Uzbeks the opportunity to study in the United States and to establish professional contacts with their American counterparts. The Departments of State and Defense provide technical assistance in the form of equipment and training to enhance Uzbekistan's control over its borders and its capabilities to interdict the illicit movement of narcotics, people, and goods, including potential weapons of mass destruction-related items. In FY 2003, the United States provided roughly $87.4 million in humanitarian aid, technical assistance, military-to-military funding, and micro-credit support in Uzbekistan. U.S. assistance grew to approximately $101.8 million in FY 2004, but fell to $92.6 million in FY 2005. These programs were designed to promote market reform and to establish a foundation for an open, prosperous, democratic society. Starting in 2004, the Secretary of State has been unable to certify that Uzbekistan has met its obligations under the bilateral 2002 Strategic Framework Agreement. As a result, U.S. assistance declined to approximately $10 million in FY 2008.
USAID provides both technical and humanitarian assistance. Technical assistance to Uzbekistan promotes sound fiscal and management policies, a strengthened business enabling environment, enhanced competitiveness of the agribusiness sector, increased citizens' participation in civil society and economic decision making, improved sustainability of social benefits and services, reduced environmental risks to public health, and other multi-sector reform programs. The USAID/Central Asian Republics Uzbekistan health program focuses on four chief needs: primary health care reform, HIV/AIDS and infectious disease control, drug demand reduction, and reproductive and maternal and child health. Programs are designed to develop local capacity and promote mechanisms for citizens to engage with their local government. U.S. Government funds also support the work of non-governmental organizations to prevent trafficking in persons and care for victims.
Peace Corps staff arrived in Uzbekistan in August 1992, and a bilateral agreement to establish the Peace Corps in Uzbekistan was signed November 4, 1992. The first volunteers arrived in December 1992. Peace Corps Volunteers were active in English teaching, small business development, public health, and women's issues. However, Uzbekistan failed to renew visas for Peace Corps volunteers in 2005, ending the Peace Corps presence in the country. Department of State-managed exchange programs, farmer-to-farmer exchanges, and the Department of Commerce's Special American Business Internship Training Program (SABIT) contribute to expansion of technical know-how and support bilateral relations. The U.S. also provides export finance/guarantees and political risk insurance for U.S. exporters and investors through the U.S. Export-Import Bank and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC). Proceeds from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Commodity Monetization Program are scheduled to finance more than 30 farmer assistance and rural development projects which were approved jointly by U.S. and Uzbek officials in 2005. Some of the selected projects are already underway.
DEFENSE
Uzbekistan possesses the largest and most competent military forces in the
Central Asian region, having around 65,000 people in uniform. Its structure is
inherited from the Soviet armed forces, although it is moving rapidly toward a
fully restructured organization, which will eventually be built around light and
Special Forces. The Uzbek Armed Forces' equipment is not modern, and training,
while improving, is neither uniform nor adequate yet for its new mission of
territorial security. The government has accepted the arms control obligations
of the former Soviet Union, acceded to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (as
a non-nuclear state), and has supported an active program by the U.S. Defense
Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) to demilitarize and clean up former weapons of
mass destruction-related facilities in western Uzbekistan (Nukus and
Vozrozhdeniye Island), as well as to guard against the proliferation of
radiological materials across its borders. The Government of Uzbekistan spends
about 2% of GDP on the military (2005 est.).
Beginning in the late 1990s until 2004, the government received U.S. Foreign
Military Financing (FMF), International Military Education and Training (IMET),
and other security assistance funds. Beginning in 2004, new FMF and IMET
assistance to Uzbekistan was stopped, as the Secretary of State, implementing
U.S. Government legislation, was unable to certify that the Government of
Uzbekistan was making progress in meeting its commitments, including respect for
human rights and economic reform, under the U.S.-Uzbekistan Strategic Framework
Agreement. Uzbekistan approved U.S. Central Command's request for access to a
vital military air base in southern Uzbekistan following the September 11, 2001
terrorist attacks in the U.S., but asked the U.S. to leave in July 2005. All
U.S. forces had departed this facility by November 2005.
Principal U.S. Embassy Officials
Ambassador--Richard B. Norland
Secretary--Patti Hagopian
Deputy Chief of Mission--Brad Hanson
Political/Economic Chief--Ted Burkhalter
Public Affairs Officer--Carol Fajardo
Management Officer--Doug Ellrich
Consul--Rafael Perez
Defense Attache--LTC Jeff Hartmann
USAID--James Bonner
The U.S. Embassy in Tashkent is located at 3 Moyqo'rq'on, 5th Block, Yunusobod District, Tashkent 700093; tel. [998] (71) 120-5450; fax: [998] (71) 120-6335; duty officer (cellular): [998] (71) 180-4060.
