Kyrgyzstan: The Trials of Independence

This region’s five republics have just lived through a remarkable first decade of independence that raises questions about “preconditions”-based theories of democratization.

The March 2005 “Tulip Revolution” that toppled President Askar Akeyev is often grouped with the “color revolutions” in Georgia and Ukraine, but in many ways the Kyrgyz case was unique.

The failures of post-Soviet reform notwithstanding, serious strides have been made toward economic and political transformation.