The 2011 uprisings disproved the Islamist argument that terror alone can topple pro-imperial rulers.

Evidence

The 2011 uprisings and mass mobilizations that swept the Middle East and North Africa strengthened the existing left and opened up a space from which such a viable new left can be born. These struggles struck a blow to the radical Islamist argument that acts of terror by individuals and small cells are necessary to rid Muslim societies of pro-imperial leaders, and instead put on the map a different model for social change. Egypt and Tunisia showed that nonsectarian mass rallies and demonstrations can succeed in toppling dictators. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 356

Categorization

• SEED: Angle: mass non-sectarian mobilization as the counter-evidence to both radical Islamist terror and US drone-based strategy — a comparative piece on models of toppling regimes.