CAIRO (AP) — Even with hopes running high, so much can go wrong when a country ousts a longtime dictator and tries to start anew. The Middle Eastern and North African nations that attempted to transition to democracy in recent years can attest to that.

Now it’s Syria’s turn to try to get it right.

It’s hard to draw lessons from the experiences of Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen and Sudan since the wave of Arab Spring uprisings that began in 2011, as each country’s dynamics are different, But there are common themes.

In some cases, “the Revolution” was lost when armed factions battled it out for power or an ambitious would-be strongman emerged. In others, the miliary refused to cede control to civilians or foreign countries fueled conflicts by backing one side or another with money and weapons.

Questions must be asked before major decisions are made that can spark a destabilizing backlash: How do you deal with the old police state — purge or compromise? What do you do first, hold elections or write a constitution? And how do you fix a crippled economy riddled with corruption?

So far, Syria’s transition has been surprisingly smooth. But it’s only been two weeks since President Bashar Assad was toppled, and many of those same dangers lurk in the background.

The insurgents who ousted Assad are rooted in extremist Islamist ideology, and though they have vowed to create a pluralist system, it isn’t clear how or whether they plan to share power.

Other armed factions — or even remnants of Assad’s feared security forces — could lash out. And it remains to be seen whether the Kurds, who hold autonomous rule in the east, will be brought back into the fold, especially when Turkey fiercely opposes the main Kurdish faction.

Groups such as the Alawites, to whom Assad’s family belongs, fear being squeezed out of any role, or worse, being targeted for revenge.

Read more: What will Syria’s future look like? The answer could lie in other Arab countries’ recent pasts

Source: AP