It has been more than a year since Shavkat Mirziyoyev came to power in Uzbekistan following the death of its long-standing leader Islam Karimov who ruled the country for nearly 25 years. Mirziyoyev was initially appointed as an interim president, and then, on December 4, 2016, he was elected as the president following a snap presidential election securing 88.6% of votes.
Abulkhairkhan Zhunisbek is a research fellow at the Eurasian Institute of the International H.A Yassawi Kazakh-Turkish University. He graduated from Abylai Khan Kazakh University of International Relations and World Languages with a Bachelor in International Relations. He obtained his master’s degree in Diplomatic Studies at the University of Oxford through the Bolashak scholarship. His thesis “ Political Economy of Oil: the case of Kazakhstan” received distinction mark. Prior to joining the ERI, he worked for governmental and international organizations.