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…
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Kyrgyzstan
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These Colors May Run: The Backlash Against the U.S.-Backed ‘Democratic Revolutions’ in Eurasia
The victory of Viktor Yanukovych in the second round of Ukraine’s 2010 presidential election has been widely portrayed as a rebuke of the 2004 Orange Revolution and the pro-Western alignment…
Back on Track?: Kyrgyz Authoritarianism after the Tulip Revolution
The year 2010 marks the fifth anniversary of Kyrgyzstan’s Tulip Revolution. The events of March 2005 fostered hopes that Kyrgyzstan was on a fast track to democracy. Five years later,…
The Color Revolutions Betrayed
The color revolutions of Georgia (2003), Ukraine (2004) and Kyrgyzstan (2005) promised these countries substantive democratization, which was supposed to end the immoral practices of post-Soviet imitation democracies, foster market-driven…
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…