All over the world, state officials are increasingly conscious brand managers, encouraged by a growing nation-branding industry. Using in-house managers and outsourced PR firms, pitch perfect messages are strategically communicated to citizens, investors, human rights bodies, financial institutions and risk analysts.
Uzbekistan’s authoritarian government is a challenging candidate for a rebranding campaign. Under its first president Islam Karimov, the country’s administration had a well-earned reputation for brutality, grand corruption and political repression. But since Shavkat Mirziyoyev took over the presidency, following Karimov’s death in 2016, the country has initiated a slick rebranding exercise in an effort to boost its reform credentials. The key message: Uzbekistan is open for business and now backed by a responsible government with a strong liberal reform platform.
One notable figure fronting the Mirziyoyev government’s ambitious rebranding exercise is businessman and former public official Komil Allamjonov. He has become one of the regime’s most outspoken figures defending the government’s record on media freedom, human rights and reform. “[T]here’s a huge difference between that time and now,” Allamjonov said to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty earlier this year when asked about the Karimov years. “[President Islam Karimov] had a certain method. During his time a lot of problems accumulated. Really a lot. And accordingly, these problems had to be solved by our president Mirziyoyev. And he’s solving them now.”
