Exploring the Authoritarian Regime of Uzbekistan Through Its Cotton Sector

Abstract

This paper’s main purpose is to describe and analyze the existing nature of the authoritarian regime of Uzbekistan through its cotton sector. So far there has not been done any research on exploring the regime of the country through cotton. Cotton production became a key point and primary source for the development of Uzbek economy. Due to its’ importance to the country’s economy, the state has special interest in keeping this sector under tight control. However this paper argues that cotton sector is considered to be a rentier state rich with natural resources but based mostly on agricultural sector. Moreover thesis will try to answer for the question of how does cotton-dependence shapes the authoritarian regime of Uzbekistan.