Editor's Note: Stratfor has analyzed how the competition between Russia and the West over Ukraine has spread throughout the entire former Soviet space and polarized blocs within the region . The recent travels of Eurasia Analyst Eugene Chausovsky to Georgia and Kyrgyzstan offered a more intimate and first-hand perspective on two former Soviet countries that find themselves on opposing sides of this competition. On the surface, Georgia and Kyrgyzstan have a lot of similarities. Both have a long history of being under Russian control — in the Soviet Union and before that the Russian Empire. Both are relatively small: Georgia has a population of 4.9 million, while Kyrgyzstan has a population of 5.7 million. Both countries are largely mountainous — the Greater and Lesser Caucasus mountain ranges run through Georgia and the Tien Shan range runs through Kyrgyzstan.