Global Profile: Shavkat Mirziyoyev, President of Uzbekistan

A Central Asian strongman rebranded—modernizing without liberalizing

The US is in a classic democracy to authoritarianism change in which the would-be dictator uses laws, institutions, and loyalists to legally change the government and take over the nation. It’s “classic” because it’s a formula used for over a century.

But it’s a formula that can run in reverse. It’s rare, but it’s happening in Uzbekistan. Uzbekistan’s w…