NEW FOREIGN POLICY COURSE IN THE REPUBLIC OF UZBEKISTAN: OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES

We relied on the “geopolitical codes” concept formulated by Colin Flint as “the manner in which a country orientates itself towards the world” to analyze the changes that the new President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev has brought to the country’s foreign policy. Geopolitical codes include assessments of strategic importance of the neighboring states defined by the leaders of state and potential threats emanating from them. We have studied the new foreign policy priorities formulated by President Mirziyoyev and possible variants of the foreign policy course pursued by the Republic of Uzbekistan in Central Asia, the EAEU and WTO, as well as specifics of its relationships with the leading centers of power. We have selected comparative analysis, SWOT analysis and the prognostication method as our main instruments.