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.
Events in Kirgizstan are unlikely to have much effect in Turkmenistan, a North Korea-style dictatorship in the region.
It has agreed on its border with China, but it is still negotiating with Russia, Kirgizstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.
Under Russia's decisive president, Vladimir Putin, Kazakhstan and Kirgizstan, each with a sizeable Russian population, were reclaimed as allies.
Kazakhs consider Kirgizstan to be an economic weakling and some even refer to the country as a Kazakh province.
Over the past four years, Mr Akaev has steadily eroded the political checks and balances of Kirgizstan's post-independence constitution.
Kazakhstan has recently agreed to start paying Kirgizstan for the maintenance of dams and reservoirs on the Chuy river.
Kirgizstan used to be seen as an island of democracy in Central Asia.
In terms of natural resources, mainly oil and gas, Kazakhstan's and Turkmenistan's relative wealth contrasts with Kirgizstan's and Tajikistan's poverty.
In Kirgizstan the American embassy gave at least moral support to an opposition activist who died on hunger strike in February.
Money will no doubt be a comforter should Kirgizstan incur Russia's wrath.
Something similar happened in both Ukraine and Kirgizstan, where Leonid Kuchma and Askar Akaev turned to Moscow when the going got tough.
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.
Russia saw an opportunity to regain influence when Kirgizstan was attacked by guerrillas from the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan in the summer of 1999.
As it happens, Kirgizstan already has a Russian military base and an American one, which is used as part of the Bush administration's fight against terror.
Kirgizstan's government, in a distinct hardening of attitude, recently arrested four men who, it said, were recruiting Kirgiz youths for training abroad in anti-state activities.
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.
Both Kazakhstan and Kirgizstan are now nervously watching the flood of ethnic Chinese moving to Xinjiang, and the economic boom in that part of China.
This could well happen in Kazakhstan, and possibly in Kirgizstan too.
Both America and Russia plan to keep their bases in Kirgizstan.
There is almost no Muslim architecture in either Kirgizstan or Kazakhstan.
Prominent opposition figures are behind bars in Kirgizstan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan.
ECONOMIST: Central Asia: Après moi le déluge (or my daughter) | The
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.
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