IN THE DECADE FROM 2010 TO 2020, humanity witnessed an explosion of mass protests that seemed to herald profound changes. These protests started in Tunisia and erupted across the Arab world, before huge demonstrations also rocked countries like Turkey, Ukraine and Hong Kong. By the end of the decade, protests were roiling Sudan, Iraq, Algeria, Australia, France, Indonesia, much of Latin America, India, Lebanon and Haiti. During these 10 years, more people took part in street demonstrations than at any other point in history.
Many of these protests were experienced as a euphoric victory by their participants and met with optimism in the international press. But years later, after most foreign reporters have gone, we can now see how the uprisings preceded – if not necessarily caused – outcomes that…
