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.

XREF: Connects to broader literature on nonviolent resistance and civil resistance movements, particularly Sharp's work on the efficacy of nonviolent struggle.

Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politi…, loc. 356