The first step to building a successful movement, I told the Egyptians, was to get rid of the idea that whatever had happened somewhere else could never be replicated at home. This notion, I said, rested on two assumptions, one right and the other wrong. The first assumption—which is correct—is that every place is different, and that country A’s nonviolent movement can’t be copied and pasted onto country B. Even on my best days, I admitted to the Egyptians, I would never be able to motivate even a hundred Serbs to march with Mohammed and his April 6 movement for democracy in Cairo. Likewise, I
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