Uzbek leader opts for efficient authoritarianism

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Political System ◽  
Constitutional Reform ◽  
Reform Process ◽  
Regional Economic ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Reform Agenda ◽  
Central Asian

Significance He also announced a constitutional reform process, without elaborating. Mirzioyev was returned to office on October 24 in a carefully choreographed competition without genuine opponents. Since coming to power in 2016, he has pursued an ambitious reform agenda, but this is confined to economic and administrative changes designed to create a more prosperous society that supports the old political system. Impacts Mirzioyev will build Uzbekistan's reputation as an impartial mediator with the Afghan Taliban. Uzbekistan will capitalise on friendlier ties with all its Central Asian neighbours. Moscow will continue courting Uzbek accession to its regional economic and security blocs.

New Zambia cabinet signals compromises, not solutions

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Economic Policy ◽  
Constitutional Reform ◽  
Policy Statement ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Reform Agenda ◽  
Gold Miners ◽  
Competing Priorities

Significance It is the new government's first major policy statement, which in part reflects the influence of the 'pro-business' camp to whom President Edgar Lungu owes political debts following his narrow victory in January's poll. However, competing priorities means this does not herald coherent economic policy or constitutional reform agenda. Impacts If Nevers Mumba and his MMD party -- which won 0.7% -- merge with the PF, this could boost Lungu's position, but only marginally. Mumba is supported by only a minority of MMD parliamentarians, more likely to defect to the opposition UPND. If the governments takes aggressive steps towards Barrick Gold, miners may continue to delay over 2 billion dollars in projects.

Panama constitutional reform will be contentious

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Interest Groups ◽  
Constitutional Reform ◽  
Reform Process ◽  
Agricultural Reform ◽  
Content Type ◽  
National Assembly ◽  
Final Version ◽  
Legislative Agenda ◽  
Current Reform ◽  
The Subject

Subject Constitutional reform. Significance The National Assembly on October 28 approved a constitutional reform package, one of the key electoral pledges of new President Laurentino Cortizo. Parliament must vote again in January on a final version of the reform, before that is put to a referendum in mid-2020. However, the October version has been the subject of strong criticism by various interest groups, suggesting it may have to be altered before the January vote. Impacts International and business concerns over perceived impunity may incentivise legislators to revise the current reform proposal. Cortizo will worry that same-sex marriage disputes could spark a conservative backlash, as in they did in Costa Rica in 2018. A prolonged constitutional reform process could delay other items on Cortizo’s legislative agenda, such as agricultural reform.

Uzbek reforms are dynamic but rely on leader's drive

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Political System ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Economic Reforms ◽  
The Political ◽  
Belt And Road Initiative ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Central Asian ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
Historical Role ◽  
Trade And Growth

Significance Since coming to power in 2016, Uzbek President Shavqat Mirzioyev has launched wide-ranging structural and economic reforms. There has been progress on economic change, although this is still at an early stage and major challenges remain. The political system remains authoritarian, but there has been a reduction in arbitrary repression. Abroad, Mirzioyev has turned from isolationism and protectionism to a committed drive to improve relations with neighbouring Central Asian states. Impacts Uzbekistan's more constructive stance will contribute to regional infrastructure links under China's Belt and Road Initiative. A more open and modern Uzbekistan could resume its historical role as a regional hub and become a catalyst for trade and growth. Uzbekistan's impartial approach to Afghanistan under Mirzioyev makes it a significant player in peace efforts there.

Mali’s new prime minister faces entrenched challenges

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Prime Minister ◽  
Constitutional Reform ◽  
Reform Process ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The North ◽  
Finance Minister

Subject Mali's new prime minister. Significance Prime Minister Soumeylou Boubeye Maiga resigned on April 18 after just 16 months in office. His cabinet also resigned. Four days later, President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita (IBK) appointed outgoing Finance Minister Boubou Cisse as Maiga’s replacement. The shakeup was ostensibly related to recent ethnic massacres in central Mali, but Maiga’s departure likely also reflects the president’s desire to reassert his own power. Impacts Maiga was a key intermediary with northern elites; his departure leaves a void that, if not filled, could deepen tensions with the north. The constitutional reform process may now slow; if mishandled, the same opposition that doomed the process in 2017 may resurface. Maiga’s departure could spur realignments among Muslim leaders, some of whom have opposed Keita but appear sympathetic to Cisse.

New Chilean constitution will be a lengthy process

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Business Leaders ◽  
Constitutional Reform ◽  
Public Consultation ◽  
Reform Process ◽  
Consultation Process ◽  
Municipal Elections ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Government ◽  
Lengthy Process

Subject Constitutional reform concerns. Significance On April 13, the government launched a public consultation process as part of its plan to write a new political constitution that it expects to present to Congress in the second half of next year. That process is part of a strategy through which the government is seeking to wriggle out of the last of the main constraints imposed by the 1980 constitution -- the supermajorities in Congress it requires for its reform. Impacts Debate is focusing thus far on the mechanism for constitutional reform, rather than its content. Constitutional reform may emerge as a key issue in the October municipal elections. Business leaders argue that the drawn-out reform process will undermine confidence to the detriment of investment.

Satu Kahkonen and Anthony Lanyi. Institutions, Incentives, and Economic Reforms in India. New Delhi: Sage Publications, 2000. 516 pages. Hardback. Price Indian Rs 595.00.

2001 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-74
Author(s):  
Attiya Y. Javed
Keyword(s):  
Reform Process ◽  
New Delhi ◽  
Social Rules ◽  
Reform Agenda ◽  
The Social ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Rural Governance ◽  
Private And Public ◽  
Economic Landscape ◽  
Number Of Authors

The economic reform process began in India in 1991. However, the reform agenda is still far from its goals as is evident from low per capita income. Thus, this reform effort has not produced the desired outcome of a faster rate of economic and social development in a meaningful way. It is the premise of this volume that to transform the social and economic landscape, the proposed reforms should be broadbased and multi-pronged which take into account incentives for the stockholders in both the private and public sectors. The institutions are the rules that govern economy and include the fundamental legal, political, and social rules that establish the basis for production, exchange, and distribution. The two editors of this volume have received contributions from a number of authors and the wide range of papers are grouped under five main headings: political economy of reforms, reforming public goods delivery, reform issues in agriculture and rural governance, and reforming the district and financial sector.

Combatting organised crime and terrorism in Central Asia

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 309-319 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emma van Santen
Keyword(s):  
Central Asia ◽  
Explanatory Power ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Organised Crime ◽  
The State ◽  
State Crime ◽  
International Policy ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Central Asian ◽  
Terrorist Groups

Purpose This paper aims to examine the shift away from the traditional distinction between organised crime and terrorist groups towards their conceptual convergence under the crime-terror nexus narrative in the context of international security and development policy in post-Soviet Central Asia. It assesses the empirical basis for the crime-terror and state-crime nexus in three Central Asian countries – Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan – and argues that the exclusion of the state from the analytical framework undermines the relevance of the crime-terror paradigm for policy-making. Design/methodology/approach This paper draws on a literature review of academic research, recent case studies highlighting new empirical evidence in Central Asia and international policy publications. Findings There is a weak empirical connection between organised crime and Islamic extremists, such as the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan and Hizbut Tahrir, in Central Asia. The state-crime paradigm, including concepts of criminal capture, criminal sovereignty and criminal penetration, hold more explanatory power for international policy in Central Asia. The crime-terror paradigm has resulted in a narrow and ineffective security-oriented law enforcement approach to counter-narcotics and counter-terrorism but does not address the underlying weak state governance structures and political grievances that motivate organised crime and terrorist groups respectively. Originality/value International policy and scholarship is currently focussed on the areas of convergence between organised crime and terrorist groups. This paper highlights the continued relevance of the traditional conceptual separation of terrorist and organised crime groups based on their different motives, methods and relationship with the state, for security and democratic governance initiatives in the under-researched Central Asian region.

KAZAKHSTAN’S POSITION IN THE ECONOMIC COOPERATION WITH OTHER COUNTRIES OF CENTRAL ASIA

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 110-121
Author(s):  
Karlygash MUKHTAROVA ◽  
Yermukhambet KONUSPAYEV ◽  
Klara MAKASHEVA ◽  
Karim SHAKIROV
Keyword(s):  
Central Asia ◽  
Economic Model ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Economic Cooperation ◽  
Asian Countries ◽  
Regional Economic ◽  
Economic Relations ◽  
Central Asian ◽  
Central Asian Countries ◽  
Economic Ties

Improving the forms and mechanisms of regional economic integration, deepening the mutual understanding on the formation of an economically and politically secure integrated space, expanding trade and economic relations, elaborating joint actions to maintain regional peace and stability, creating a single information space are among the key areas that have become the basis of cooperation among the Central Asian region (CAR) states. The authors reveal the positive aspects of cooperation among the CAR countries—Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Tajikistan. First and foremost, these include common historical roots, linguistic and cultural similarity, convenient geographical location and established economic ties, which allow the states of Central Asia (CA) to establish a deeper and more active understanding of each other, to solve economic and political problems related to finding and realizing domestic investment potential and expanding regional trade and economic ties. The joint establishment of international transport corridors and infrastructure will help reduce the transport costs for Central Asian countries that supply export products to external markets, which is an important area of ​​cooperation in Central Asia. In addition, the economic problems that exist among the regional countries largely determine the nature of relations between them. Future solution of problems determines the subsequent viability of the Central Asian Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) and the regional development prospects. Based on the use of economic research tools, the authors examine the problems caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and their impact on the state of trade and economic relations between the regional states. Post-crisis plans for economic recovery in the Central Asian countries will be developed and implemented in the context of the need to solve the present-day problems associated with the gradual lifting of quarantine measures. In this regard, the quickest possible transition of economies to an upward growth trajectory should launch the expansion of trade and economic cooperation and ties among the Central Asian countries. The authors emphasize the fact that another important problem within CAREC is the fact that CAR economies are dominated by raw materials, which does not solve the problems of reducing social inequality and improving the welfare of the regional population. For this reason, Kazakhstan, like other Central Asian countries, is currently in search of a new economic model. The transformation is crucial because the country needs to overcome its excessive long-term dependence on the export of oil and raw materials. The new economic model should be focused on further industrialization and diversification of the economy, on the search for new innovative approaches and development strategies.

Constitutional reform calls mount across Latin America

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Constitutional Reform ◽  
Constitutional Change ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Constitutional Reforms ◽  
The Status

Significance The debate over constitutional reform will be enlivened by the upcoming election of a constituent convention in Chile on the same day as the Peruvian elections. Impacts Constitutional change may become a banner for the left elsewhere in Latin America. Future constitutional reforms may reconsider the status of indigenous communities in the Amazon. Workers’ rights, include labour stability, may be strengthened.

The HEXACO, academic motivation and learning approaches: evidence from a central Asian country

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Monowar Mahmood ◽  
Yuliya Frolova ◽  
Bhumika Gupta
Keyword(s):  
Personality Traits ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Classroom Environment ◽  
Academic Motivation ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Learning Approaches ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Central Asian ◽  
Motivation And Learning

PurposePersonality traits are assumed to influence cognitive processes as well as academic motivation and learning approaches of the students. Based on these assumptions, the present study investigates the association of HEXACO personality traits with academic motivation as well as influence of those traits on students' learning approaches in educational contexts.Design/methodology/approachSelf-reported measures of personality orientation, academic motivation and learning approaches were obtained from 404 respondents in a classroom environment. The SPSS 20 software was used to conduct the correlations and the hierarchical regression analyses. The Eviews 10 software was used to develop the structural equation model to find the inter-relations among the study variables.FindingsThe findings reveal the influence of personality traits on academic motivation and learning approaches of the students. Among different personality traits, consciousness appeared to have highly positive impact on deep learning and intrinsic motivation of the studies. Neuroticism appeared to have most negative impact related to surface learning and amotivation of the learning contents.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings validates the existence of HEXACO personality traits among the students in central Asian context. It future reiterated individual differences in learning strategies and learning motivation among the learners. The results may help academics and policy makers take appropriate measures to increase academic motivation and select appropriate learning approaches.Originality/valueThis is one of the pioneer studies to investigate the relationship between HEXACO personality traits, learning strategies and academic motivation. Validation of the HEXACO framework will help to understand students' personality in a more detailed and elaborative way and will contribute to the existing literature on personality and learning outcomes.

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