The unrest this week in Kazakhstan underlines a fundamental predicament that comes with strict authoritarian rule. The more power is invested in an individual, the more uncertain and insecure the transition to a successor inevitably becomes. Cautionary examples of this truth abound, and yet few authoritarians heed them.

Though much about the developments in Kazakhstan remains uncertain, the events of the past week suggest that an elite power struggle has grafted itself onto what began as spontaneous protests, pitting the old guard of former President Nursultan Nazarbayev against supporters of his hand-picked successor, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.