The occupation tactic lost potency once the Square fragmented into many small groups.
Evidence
But the Egyptian revolutionaries only really had one arrow in their quiver: they could try to take Tahrir Square again. All types of protests took place in 2011 and 2012, but unless they forced the country to a halt, again, they remained demonstrations. Unless they could oust SCAF and replace it with a new revolutionary government, they would have to rely on negotiations and conversations until the planned elections. But the Square was splintered into a number of small groups, which made them easy to ignore. If SCAF wanted to dialogue with civil society, the Muslim Brotherhood stood out as a single coherent organization with a reliable base of support. — Vincent Bevins, If We Burn, 302
Categorization
- XREF: Directly extends the book’s central dynamic: mass protest that can only stop things, not seize state power, collapses once it can’t sustain a decisive halt. Also parallels the ‘one arrow’ problem across the 2010s movements discussed throughout. — connects to: Tahrir Square was taken for visibility, not strategic value — Vincent Bevins, If We Burn: The Mass Protest Decade and…, 224; Fragmented secular revolutionaries split their vote and lost to organized blocs — Vincent Bevins, If We Burn: The Mass Protest Decade and…, 306; Small groups cooperate easily but large groups fail without coordination — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 412 (+2 more)
Broader Connections
- Fragmented secular revolutionaries split their vote and lost to organized blocs
#exemplifies(0.85) — Vincent Bevins, If We Burn, 306 - Dimes Square failed to inspire imitation because scenes require geographic concentration
#corroborates(0.80) — W. David Marx, Blank Space, 669 - Small groups cooperate easily but large groups fail without coordination
#expands(0.78) — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 412 - Defeated revolutionary movements often self-destruct rather than self-correct
#qualifies(0.72)