Detecting Power in Power Projection: The Case of Uzbekistan
Detecting Power in Power Projection: The Case of Uzbekistan

Summary/Abstract: The term “power projection” is more often than not used to describe the extension (or application) of national power beyond state boundaries for the purpose of exerting influence on other states. In this paper, the term is used not only in this sense but also, primarily, to describe the internal (intra-state) sweep and employment of power. The term “power projection” can be relevant for studying the nature of power in a positivist perspective, through observation of its “traces” and manifestations. In being projected, power displays itself, is revealed. Political power in Uzbekistan, as in other Central Asian countries, is a very sophisticated phenomenon. Its ontology and epistemology are addressed here in a dialectical perspective. The paper analyses pillars of political power in Uzbekistan such as the cult of personality, the omnipotent Presidential Apparatus, the ubiquitous security agency, absenteeism of the demos, and opportunist political parties, all of these taken as variables that help detect nuances of power. The Uzbekistan context also provides evidence of, so to speak, “power by default” – a phenomenon that is less exposed to relational theory of power than to behavioral theory. The above-mentioned “pillars of power” are examined in this perspective. Finally, sacralization as a means of power projection is considered in the context of Uzbekistan.

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