Islam in Uzbekistan: Implications of 9/11 and Policy Recommendations for the United States

This paper is about the implications of the events of September 11 on the state and life of Muslims of Uzbekistan. Tracing the history of Islam in Uzbekistan before the arrival of the Soviets and since then, the paper reviews the emergence of the classification of official and parallel Islam in the 1960s. The paper notes the resurgence of Islam in Uzbekistan following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, and the launching of several Islamic groups and parties such as the IMU in the country. Following the events of 1999 the government cracked down on the Islamic parties on suspicion of extremism and there were several outside players. The paper analyses the impact of the 9/11 events on Islam in Uzbekistan and then explores the future of Islam in the country. The paper concludes with observations regarding the historic nature of Islam in Uzbekistan and its resurgence as a natural evolutionary process, and it offers several recommendations to the US with regards to its policy in Uzbekistan.