On April 2, 2026 the Methodological Council of the University of World Economy and Diplomacy arranged the academic seminar on “Soft power in Uzbekistan’s Foreign Policy: main instruments, strategic priorities and prospects”.

The meeting was attended by the UWED administrative and teaching staff, members of the Academic Council and experts of Institute for Advanced International Studies.

In the main part of the event UWED Professor Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary (retired) of Uzbekistan to the United Kingdom and other countries of Europe, the EU and NATO, Doctor of Political Science Fayzullaev A.O. delivered/gave a keynote speech.

In his speech and presentation the scholar examined the advantages and limitations of “soft power” in its conventional interpretations; in the context of strengthening countries’ strategic influence the speaker in a comparative mode assessed national models of the USA, France, the Republic of Korea, and Japan; special attention was paid to alternative approaches to “soft power” practice and possible modes/regimes of its implementation; the effectiveness of the “functional necessity” of “soft power” were illustrated throughout the cases of Singapore, Qatar, Switzerland, Turkey, and Kazakhstan; in a practical sense, the resource-based capabilities of “soft power” in the foreign policy of the Republic of Uzbekistan were analyzed in the short-, mid- and long-term prospects.

The concluding part of the seminar was followed by the discussion session, when participants of the event were able to comment on the significance of the cultural resources of “soft power”; the effectiveness of “soft power” within the usage of contemporary technologies; the correlation between the terms “public diplomacy” and “soft power”; the prospects of adaptation of Uzbekistan's “soft power” mechanisms in the course of accession to the WTO; the mediation capacity of Uzbekistan; and more.