ABSTRACT. This paper examines the emergence of cultural tourism in Uzbekistan, and surrounding territories as part of the modern knowledge economy, with a specific focus on the role of Islamic culture. Through a series of travel narratives, observations, and conversations, the authors, two professors (husband and wife), explore how the collapse of the Soviet regime and the subsequent opening of these economies have led to a boom in cultural tourism. The article combines theory and practice, reflecting on the origins of the tourist boom and how Islamic experiences, architecture, cuisine, music, and everyday culture contribute to the cultural knowledge economy. The authors share their experiences with students through images, reflections, and theoretical formulations, using WeChat as a learning tool. The paper argues that the concept of the knowledge economy can be applied both to the age of AI and to the ancient Islamic knowledge economy of the Golden Age, suggesting that this ancient economy has been revitalized and reimagined in the form of cultural knowledge economy as the basis for cultural tourism in the twenty-first century.

Keywords: knowledge economy; AI; cultural tourism; Islamic culture; Uzbekistan; Soviet regime; We-Chat; travel narratives; social science; open immersive learning; Kazakhstan; Old Silk Road

How to cite: Peters, M. A., and Besley, T. (2024). “Tashkent, Khiva, Bukhara and Samarkand in the Islamic Remaking of the Modern World in Uzbekistan,” Geopolitics, History, and International Relations 16(2): 9–38. doi: 10.22381/GHIR16220241.

Received 12 April 2024 • Received in revised form 7 June 2024
Accepted 9 June 2024 • Available online 17 June 2024