Kyrgyzstan 7 - PONARS Eurasia

The Third Restart: Challenges for Democracy in Post-Bakiyev Kyrgyzstan

In April 2010, the second president of Kyrgyzstan, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, was ousted from power after bloody clashes between authorities and protesters. He finally settled in Belarus, following the trajectory of…

Recurring Referendums: The Struggle for Constitutional ‘Reform’ in Kyrgyzstan

With the adoption of its new constitution by referendum on June 27, 2010, Kyrgyzstan made history by becoming only the second state in post-Soviet Eurasia (after Moldova, and not including…

The Kyrgyz Crisis and the Political Logic of Central Asia’s Weak Regional Security Organizations

For the second time in five years, political events in Kyrgyzstan shook the Central Asia region and caught the international community off-guard. In early April 2010, a few sporadic protests…

The Logic of Kyrgyzstan’s Base Policy

Kyrgyzstan’s February 2009 decision to close the U.S. military base at the country’s Manas airfield caught many by surprise. The decision was not preceded by domestic debate about a possible…

Energizing the Western Response to Democratic Setbacks in Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Georgia

The most recent elections in the three states of the South Caucasus and in Kyrgyzstan have all represented strong setbacks for the development of democracy. While the specific situations are…

Depoliticizing Manas: The Domestic Consequences of the U.S. Military Presence in Kyrgyzstan

Over three years since the United States established military bases in Central Asia to support Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), the military installation at Manas airport continues to define many aspects…

Revolutions and Religion in Central Asia

Unable to achieve change through the ballot box, the Kyrgyz and Uzbeks have taken to the streets in an effort to turn out their authoritarian leaders. Despite divergent outcomes, the…

Interpreting the Color Revolutions and Prospects for Post-Soviet Democratization: Breaking the Cycles

The Orange Revolution in Ukraine, the Rose Revolution in Georgia, and the Tulip Revolution in Kyrgyzstan have been widely interpreted as democratic breakthroughs. This largely misses the most important point.…

Russia-NIS Relations Beyond the Color Revolutions: Are the Shifts Durable?

During a short period of nine months, the joyful euphoria of many observers about the Orange Revolution in Ukraine gave way to shock and mixed emotion about the Tulip Revolution…

Russia’s Counterrevolutionary Offensive in Central Asia

Counterterrorism has never been a convincing Russian strategy for Central Asia. At the start of Vladimir Putin’s presidency, attempts to impress upon the leaders of the five Central Asian states that only…

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Kyrgyzstan