Abstract

This paper intends to shed light on and analyze the soft power strategy initiated by Uzbekistan since 2017. Tashkent has set a roadmap to increase its political capital and visibility by forging an Uzbek soft power. This strategy is primarily focused on culture and tourism. By focusing on these two areas, Uzbekistan's strategy not only aims to strengthen its recent multilateral shift but also enables the construction of a 'national brand'. In this process of steady 'nation-branding' efforts, it can rely on the experience and cooperation with the monarchies of the Arabian Peninsula who already possess credentials in the targeted fields. The Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation—established in 2017—has skillfully proceeded to apply the toolkit used by its three main partners: Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. Key demonstrations of the implementation of the 'Arabian Peninsula model' include the establishment of art biennales and the materialization of 'shared desired futures' through the construction of museums and civilizational centers. The scheduled opening of the Islamic Civilization Center in Tashkent to mark the end of Ramadan (March 2026) exemplifies what STS scholar Sheila Jasanoff terms 'sociotechnical imaginaries'.

The sociotechnical imaginaries produced by Arabian Peninsula countries in the fields of art and culture are firmly rooted in Western museological models—particularly American, British and French institutions. While this framework enabled the production of relatively homogeneous definitions of nationhood across the Arabian Peninsula, its adoption remains uneven among Central Asian states. Whereas Uzbekistan has comprehensively embraced this cultural model since 2017, Kazakhstan initiated similar nation-branding processes earlier but focused primarily on the educational sphere rather than cultural institutions. Kazakh higher education institutions—particularly Nazarbayev University—have produced a distinct version of Kazakh modernity, suggesting that sociotechnical imaginaries can manifest through different sectoral pathways across Central Asia.

This paper contributes to the emerging field of Arabian Peninsula-Central Asia cultural relations by shifting focus from religious dimensions to strategic cultural diplomacy and nation-branding. While existing studies have examined energy partnerships, the deliberate transfer of Gulf soft power models to Central Asia remains understudied. Drawing on field observation (Sharjah-Samarkand exhibition, April 2024) and institutional documents, this paper demonstrates how sociotechnical imaginaries manifest through sector-specific pathways. The asymmetric adoption reveals how heritage endowment and developmental priorities shape distinct modernization trajectories across post-Soviet Central Asia.