Abstract
Joining in the current debate about one party dictatorships and the durability of such regimes, this article explores continuity and disruption among the Turkmen political elite as they transitioned their loyalties from President Saparmurat Niyazov (1991-2006) to Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov (2007-present). We are particularly interested in how the change from an idiosyncratic political system based mainly on President Niyazov's cult of personality and visible repression of his potential opponents evolved into a more refined system under his successor, Berdymuhamedov.
We thus look at the Berdymuhamedov regime's efforts to re-brand Turkmenistan without substantially changing domestic political structures and dynamics. These include the manufacture of 'opposition parties' and the holding of formal elections every five years, while the elites retain absolute control over the most important political powers in the country.
We suggest that a two-pronged strategy, based on authoritarianism and learning from the past, exists to maintain the status quo. While the succession from the country's first to its second president has brought about significant change, it has also demonstrated essential continuities.
Those continuities have resulted in an official domestic and international narrative that proclaims the regime's commitment to international standards and values while maintaining strict control of most, if not all, aspects of the nation's political life.