Human rights lawyer Dilfuza Kurolova and political scientist Dr. Farkhod Tolipov talk about their homeland Uzbekistan – the land locked and most populous country of Central Asia. After two decades of economic and political isolation under the former President Islom Karimov, there are hopes that the current president will bring the much needed change to the former Soviet country. President Shavkat Mirziyoyev is more reform-orientated, more democratic and more liberal than his predecessor, and there has been a shift towards a more liberal life, though only a very slight one, and there is much to do to create a democratic system in Uzbekistan, as our speakers point out.

4:12 Background information on Uzbekistan

6:30 Dilfuza and Dr. Tolipov’s views on Uzbekistan, and where it stands today 

21:20 The cotton industry

26:57 Uzbekistan’s involvement in China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and reactions from Russia

34:47 Dilfuza and Dr. Tolipov’s recommendations for places to visit and food to try

Your host: Denise Staubli, Program Manager, Asia Society Switzerland
Moderator: Simona Grano, Senior Lecturer and Director of the Taiwan Studies Project at the University of Zurich (UZH)
Speakers:
Dilfuza Kurolova, human rights lawyer and founding-curator of the Global Shapers Tashkent Hub
Dr. Farkhod Tolipov, Director of the non-governmental Research Institution “Bilim Karvoni” (“Caravan of Knowledge”)
Production: Denise Staubli

Show Notes

Green dumplings – in season in Spring/Summer

Watermelons –  very big and tasty in the Summer

Plov – National dish of Uzbekistan

Khiva – Ancient city in Xorazm Region, Uzbekistan

The capital city Tashkent with its big bazaars and the famous Tashkent metro (featuring very beautiful tunnels and stations). Most stunning station: “Cosmos” station

New Silk Roads by Peter Frankopan

Publications by Dr. Farkhod Tolipov

Asia Society Switzerland webcast A Closer Look at Uzbekistan with Dilfuza Kurolova and Dr. Farkhod Tolipov, May 20, 2021

Dilfuza Kurolova is a human rights lawyer and founding-curator of the Global Shapers Tashkent Hub, the youth initiative of the World Economic Forum. She is also a part of the Social Development Team of the World Bank on citizen engagement. In addition, she is a Speakers Curator of TEDx Mustaqillik Square since 2016, an active member of the Central Asian Youth Networking (CAYN) since 2010, and OSCE Youth Ambassador for Uzbekistan since 2015. Previously, she worked at the International Commission of Jurists, an international NGO based in Switzerland implementing the ACCESS project to promote economic, social and cultural rights in Uzbekistan, and a Third-Party-Monitoring project of the ILO in Uzbekistan covering labor rights and feedback mechanisms during cotton harvest 2016-2020. As an active promoter of human rights, particularly right to food and other social rights, she was a consultant at the Child Protection Section of UNICEF Uzbekistan CO in 2018 covering protection policy of children left behind by migrating parents. In addition, she runs her own social project since 2019 in providing free legal consultations through social media accounts. Dilfuza has a Master`s Degree in Politics and Security from the OSCE Academy in Bishkek and LLM on International Law from the Tashkent State University of Law. 

Dr. Farkhod Tolipov is Director of the non-governmental Research Institution “Bilim Karvoni” (“Caravan of Knowledge”) in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. He is specialized in geopolitics, regional security and regional integration in Central Asia, nationalism and democratization in Central Asian countries. At the same time, he teaches at the Webster University in Tashkent. Dr. Tolipov is a member of the international editorial board of the journal Central Asia and Caucasus. He is also a member of senior advisory board of the China-Eurasia Forum and Central Eurasian Studies Society, and member of the expert group of the journal “Security Index” of the PIR-Center in Russia. He is the author of the monograph Grand Strategy of Uzbekistan in the Context of Geopolitical and ideological Transformation of Central Asia.

Dr. Simona A. Grano is Senior Lecturer at the University of Zurich (UZH) and Director of the Taiwan Studies Project at UZH. She completed her Ph.D. in Chinese Studies at Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Italy. She has held research positions and taught China Studies  and Taiwan Studies at her alma mater, at the University of Zurich in Switzerland and at the National Cheng'chi University in Taiwan. She has also been a visiting scholar at the University of Hong Kong and is a research fellow of the European Research Center on Contemporary Taiwan (ERCCT), in Tübingen, Germany as well as a research associate of SOAS for the year 2021. Simona's regional expertise centers on the People's Republic of China as well as on Taiwan and Hong Kong.