The Limits of Democratic Reform -- Kyrgyzstan

The initial giddy days of the democratic revolution, when all things seemed possible, have passed. Nathan over at Registran.net reflects the new mood of pessimism that has emerged as people begin to realize that the new leadership is not much different from the old. There will be no great "democratic leap forward." He writes:

Maybe I’m not finding the right news sources, but it seems opposition elites have more problems with the state of the nation than do Kazakh citizens.

I’m actually fairly optimistic about Kazakhstan itself. I expect that its political system will eventually become more transparent (the sooner the better in my book) but that it will come through a brokered agreement rather than a popular uprising.

Read him here. [scroll down to "Pessimism on Kyrgyzstan"]

Maybe it's just my age, but I am not at all disturbed at the prospect of orderly, gradual change. The reform imperative could not be sustained at a revolutionary pace for long and is reaching its limits in places like Zimbabwe, Kyrgyzstan, and elsewhere.

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