RESUMEN
Since the death of Islom Karimov in September 2016, the government of Uzbekistan has witnessed almost 4 years of slow but steady political reform. President Shavkat Mirzayoyev initiated restructuring in the law enforcement agencies, intelligence service and military, all that moved the country away from the police state that Karimov constructed in his 25-year reign. In particular, Mirzayoyev restricted the power of the criminal police and the traffic police, the latter a particularly despised organization because of their corruption and abuse of power. Beginning in March 2020, the Uzbek government began extending the powers of law enforcement, including reopening the interregional traffic police checkpoints which had been closed in 2017. The country implemented a strict quarantine, confining people to their homes except for trips for food, medical treatment and a handful of other "essential” activities. Other authoritarian measures, with little if any connection to controlling the spread of infection, have also been imposed in the political, religious and media spheres. This chapter explores the political changes COVID-19 has wrought in Uzbekistan, especially in the context of ongoing reforms directed toward fighting corruption and increasing political freedom. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.
RESUMEN
This study analyzed the effect of anti-Asian American violence on Asian Americans' daily lives because the hate crimes or sentiment was not salient in the early stage of the pandemic in rural Alabama. The survey was conducted from April to May 2020. A total of 234 Laotians and 119 Cambodians participated, and multiple regression models were employed. Two communities demonstrated distinctive sociodemographic characteristics. The younger Cambodians were more concerned about anti-Asian violence, which made sense considering that Cambodians gained new community members through international marriage brides from Cambodia. They were more likely to obtain limited information due to the language barrier and depend on advice from leaders they could trust. These results explained the higher worry about the infection for younger Cambodians, the significant influence of community leaders' recommendations, and the higher fear by the educated. Laotians showed an overall moderating effect of age. Laotian fifties demonstrated that older adults handled better on the perceived disruption of COVID-19. They utilized various media sources to reduce their worry and help more appropriate damage-avoiding behavior for community members. © 2023 Transnational Press London Ltd. All rights reserved.