Sodiq Safoyev

Sodiq Safoyev trained as an economist at Tashkent State University and completed doctoral research on industrial labor productivity in 1984. A period as a visiting scholar at Harvard’s Institute for International Development added an American academic connection before his ambassadorship. He served as Uzbekistan’s foreign minister in 1993 and ambassador to Germany from 1993 to 1996, then represented the country in Washington from 1996 to 2001. ^{1, 2}

In the United States, Safoyev had to explain his government’s security policies in the face of criticism over religious freedom and political repression. At a Helsinki Commission hearing before the 1999–2000 Uzbek elections, he argued that preserving social stability and resisting religious extremism were central achievements of independence. Commissioners and other witnesses challenged the government’s censorship, restrictions on religious practice, and treatment of political opponents. ³

Safoyev also worked through civic and policy forums. In June 1998 he joined the Tashkent mayor’s delegation to Seattle for the twenty-fifth anniversary of the cities’ partnership. In October 2000 he provided commentary at a Carnegie Endowment discussion with Uzbekistan’s defense minister and an American defense official about Afghanistan, military reform, and security in Central Asia. ^{4, 5}

After Washington he became presidential special representative for Afghanistan and again served as foreign minister, from 2003 to 2005. He entered the newly established Senate in 2005, chaired its foreign policy committee, and became first deputy chairman in 2016. His later work also returned him to higher education as rector of the University of World Economy and Diplomacy. He wrote on economics, international security, and diplomacy. ^{1, 2}