https://mt.osce-academy.kg/handle/123456789/525 2025-11-10T22:57:54Z 2025-11-10T22:57:54Z Asekov, Ulan https://mt.osce-academy.kg/handle/123456789/546 2024-02-12T08:46:41Z 2023-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: The Securitization of Information Space in Russia Authors: Asekov, Ulan Abstract: Thanks to the proliferation of the internet and information and communication technologies (ICT) the world is interconnected more than ever. At the same time, the number of possible threats and vulnerabilities that could occur on a day in this new world of instant and encompassing interconnectedness is increased and increasing exponentially. In light of existence and an increasing number of threats originating from cyberspace, it is still unclear who or what should be the main provider of the shield against ever-increasing threats and dangers of the net. On this subject, it is helpful to study the case of Russia since it was noticed on a number of occasions attempting to install regulation on the Internet and internet-based companies, and eventually to put the Russian segment of the Internet in confines of the national borders. This thesis aims to do that using securitization framework developed by the Copenhagen School of thought. Resorting to the process-tracing case study the study concludes that Russian authorities, security services and bureaucracy are in constant anxious endeavor in uniting all the other discourses of security under the umbrella of regime security.

2023-01-01T00:00:00Z Rakhmatullaeva, Zukhra https://mt.osce-academy.kg/handle/123456789/545 2024-02-12T08:27:45Z 2023-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Academic Corruption in National Higher Education Institutions in Uzbekistan Authors: Rakhmatullaeva, Zukhra Abstract: Since 2016, when President Shavkat Mirziyoyev came into power, he and his administration has tried to bring social and economic reforms. One of the key promises the Mirziyoyev administration made was the elimination of corruption, including corruption in the higher education (HE) system. Since 2016, the new government has adopted 18 legislative acts to address corruption in the HE system. Although the documents consider structural and progressive changes, anecdotal evidence still suggests corruption in higher education institutions (HEIs) in Uzbekistan exist. By conducting an overview of survey results among students of four selected local public universities and educators, this research paper shows the level of existing corruption in HEIs in Uzbekistan and explains the potential conducive conditions because of faculty-students relations. The online surveys were conducted with three hundred two current undergraduate students and seventy-three faculty members of selected higher education institutions. The analysis showed the strong correlation between faculty-student relations and corruption in HE. The findings indicate that unregulated faculty-student relations has a causing-effect to corruption in Uzbekistan.

2023-01-01T00:00:00Z Odilov, Nuriddin https://mt.osce-academy.kg/handle/123456789/542 2024-02-12T05:35:48Z 2023-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Uyghurs in Uzbekistan: Strangers Among Alike? Authors: Odilov, Nuriddin Abstract: This thesis examines the developments in the Uyghur community, precisely why their number dropped significantly in post-Soviet Uzbekistan, and what role in this respect formal nationality plays. One of the most obvious issues in literature is the decline in the number of Uyghurs in Uzbekistan between 1989-2001. Scholarly work point to the fact that the decline occurred not due to mass-scale migration, but rather due to a change of formal nationality by many Uyghurs. This research aims to find possible explanations for this development through a theory of nationalism, precisely ethno-nationalism, social identity theory, and the concept of ethnocracy, whereby the state is controlled by a dominant ethnic group to further its interests, power, and resources. There are three stages to this argument. I start by addressing the conflicting hypotheses for the disappearance of the Uyghur minority. In contrast to the Soviet era, there is a paradoxical link between increased democratization and the disappearance of a minority (i.e. Uyghurs). The literature on ethnocracy and its relationships to nation- building, nationalism, and culture served as a major source of inspiration for my conceptual framework, which I will go on to propose in light of the lack of a compelling response to this contradiction in the mainstream discourse. To better comprehend the connections between democratization (or at least the lack of repression) and yet another cultural group that is vanishing, I evaluate the results of my field study in the third section (i.e. Uyghurs). My three key findings are as follows: 1. Type of nationalism (ethno-nationalism) in Uzbekistan lead to favoritism towards dominant ethnic group – Uzbeks, thus enabling ethnic minorities, including Uyghurs to alter their formal nationality. 2. The change of formal nationality in the passport does not necessarily mean cultural assimilation, but paradoxically, the preservation of Uyghur culture in a tacit way. 3. The change of nationality seems to be neither an act of resistance, nor submission to the state, but rather an act of finding freedom or the room of manoeuvre in the shadow of China’s global persecution and repressions of Uyghurs. 4. Paradoxically, the change of formal nationality gives the sense of belonging to a historically same cultural roots (Chagatai), and allow to avoid the trap of “self” vs. “other” implied by the crystallization of a group’s social identity, (which makes the Uyghur case in Uzbekistan so more fascinating). As a result, it demonstrates how the process of nation-building, which started during the Soviet times has become significantly influenced by ethnocentric statecraft methods that have unintentionally led to dynamics of dominance and exclusion. This work utilizes the exploratory research methodology, inductive and qualitative to address the questions posed by this work since the topic is not well studied previously. Analysis of secondary sources and interviews will be conducted with the Uyghur community in Uzbekistan, to explore the reasons behind changing formal nationality. This thesis contends that the Uyghur community has been steadily disappearing because of the nation-building process.

2023-01-01T00:00:00Z Ishenbek kyzy, Mirgul https://mt.osce-academy.kg/handle/123456789/541 2024-02-12T05:29:11Z 2023-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Empowering Marginalized Communities: Assessing Ex-Post Sustainability of Foreign-Aided Development Projects Applying Sustainable Livelihood Approach Authors: Ishenbek kyzy, Mirgul Abstract: Many modern societies have highly developed technologies and are wealthy in terms of their material and financial goods and resource use. Through flows of people, things, and information, they are also becoming more and more integrated. However, not all people and cultures have access to the same amount of resources, and not all of them participate equally in networked exchanges of goods and information. The benefits and costs that people and societies ultimately gain from using environmental resource stocks and flows are, in fact, allocated fairly inequitably among and within societies, which make up sovereign nations; and between families1. Then the development sector comes to the aid of the less privileged communities which is continuously seeking for new models aimed at solving the numerous issues faced by developing countries in a sustainable manner. This study attempts to assess ex-post sustainability of donor- aided development projects in Kyrgyzstan, in particular the project aimed to empower vulnerable families in marginalized communities by supporting them in a holistic way applying the sustainable livelihoods approach. In addition, the given thesis will examine the variables influencing the outputs' employability or extinction to identify obstacles limiting the sustainability of the development projects in Kyrgyzstan. Drawing on the sustainable livelihood approach, this thesis also aims to better understand the community ownership level and other social and economic variables that are drivers/barriers to the sustainability of former beneficiaries of development programs in marginalized communities in Kyrgyzstan. The research is based on a case study of the completed Social-Economic Empowerment of Marginalized Families project funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Development Cooperation and implemented in 2017-2021 in the Muras-Ordo novostroika (informal settlement).

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