Others compared Bolivia's upheavals to recent examples of people power from Ukraine to Kirgizstan.
Kirgizstan, in contrast to Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, is not rich in oil and gas.
For example, Sokh, an enclave administered by Uzbekistan, is in Kirgizstan but its people are Tajiks.
This is a particular worry for the smaller countries such as Kirgizstan, which is surrounded by giants.
Uzbekistan even mined the border with Kirgizstan to prevent militants from escaping, to Mr Akaev's deep annoyance.
Kazakhstan and Kirgizstan have embraced noticeably more ambitious economic and political reforms than the rest of the region.
In Kirgizstan, questions were asked in parliament this week about the arrests of Kirgiz citizens by Uzbek police.
It has agreed on its border with China, but it is still negotiating with Russia, Kirgizstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.
Kazakhstan has recently agreed to start paying Kirgizstan for the maintenance of dams and reservoirs on the Chuy river.
In terms of natural resources, mainly oil and gas, Kazakhstan's and Turkmenistan's relative wealth contrasts with Kirgizstan's and Tajikistan's poverty.
Many have criticised America for tolerating brutal regimes that help it in the war on terror, notably that of Kirgizstan's neighbour, Uzbekistan.
Kirgizstan, with just 4.8m people, has increasingly come under the influence of authoritarian leaders in the larger Central Asian republics, in particular Kazakhstan.
Two years ago, Mr Steinbach felt there was a market in Kirgizstan for good beer, not only among the remaining Germans but among the Kirgiz.
This could well happen in Kazakhstan, and possibly in Kirgizstan too.
Kirgizstan has agreed to a one-year deployment of the troops near the airport of its capital Bishkek, viewing it as a contribution to the anti-terror campaign.
As for Gorno-Badakhshan, a region covering nearly half of the country, its only outlet is the perilous mountain road to Osh in Kirgizstan, impassable in winter.
More than a third of the inhabitants of Kazakhstan are Russian, and so are around 18% of the people of Kirgizstan, despite a large exodus in recent years.
But Kirgizstan's other neighbours, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan, may feel tremors.
By contrast, a small and poor country such as Kirgizstan has to see the outside world as an opportunity rather than a threat because it is unable to retreat inside its borders.
Kirgizstan has been a member of the World Trade Organisation since 1998, but, says Mr Otorbaev, the deputy prime minister, membership has not brought real economic benefits because most of the neighbours are still outside.
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