less than two years ago, but his brutal crackdown, backed by russia, has so far succeeded in nearly obliterating the opposition. we don't yet know how things will go in kazakhstan, as we speak, russia is sending thousands of troops into the country to act as so-called peace keepers, and kazakhstan's president says he's given his own troops shoot to kill orders against protesters. this ebb and flow of democracy is constant around the world. democracy, holding on tenuously, in ukraine, seeing a spark of life in kazakhstan, slipping away in belarus. democracy eroding in hungary, extinguished with terrifying speed in hong kong, but also advancing in some unexpected places, the island nation of samoa managed to survive a constitutional crisis this past summer and the democratically elected and first female prime minister took office. just weeks ago the caribbean nation of barbados removed queen elizabeth as its head of state