Following Egypt’s historic uprising and the people’s successful removal of President Hosni Mubarak, WagingNonViolence.org conducted interviews with several peacemakers around the world. Following is a sample of their comments.

WNV: What first came into your mind when you saw the announcement that Mubarak had stepped down?

Egypt’s public squares were filled by people who faced a menacing dictatorship backed by U.S. arsenals and the demands of Israel as a so-called ally. Using multiple nonviolent means to swell their numbers, the Egyptian activists and, eventually, throngs of people brought the police state to a halt. In contrast, invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, to name but two of the countries to which the U.S. was determined to bring democracy, have cost hundreds of thousands of lives. Savage U.S. attacks have destroyed neighborhoods, infrastructure, lives, and livelihoods, all in the name of spreading U.S. democratic values. The Egyptian activists who poured zeal, intelligence, and careful organizing into their campaigns for a truly democratic future are rooted in ideals that are, today, emblematic of dazzling realism. 
—Kathy Kelly, Co-coordinator, Voices for Creative Nonviolence

It was very clear from the first day that the movement in Egypt had planned their actions carefully and had been effective in conveying the need for both sustained pressure on the regime and strict nonviolent discipline. Despite media portrayals to the contrary, the uprising in Egypt was not spontaneous and by and large, the movement was better at strategy, discipline, adaptation, and reading the opponent than the regime. The most telling moment was how, after the first big round of repression, the resistance got even more galvanized and determined.
—Cynthia Boaz, Assistant Professor, Sonoma State University

Before joining the celebration about the overthrow of Mubarak, the U.S. government needs to apologize to the people of Egypt for its 30 years of propping up this vile dictator with tens of billions of dollars. The United States did it shamelessly, well aware of Mubarak’s violence to dissenters and well aware, too, that he took our money and then used it to buy weapons from U.S. military contractors. 
—Colman McCarthy, Director, Center for Teaching Peace

I thought of the tears of my friend Dr. Emad Siyam, who has been sitting in Tahrir Square since the 25th. He has been in jail 18 times, by this regime and the previous one too.
—Mohammed Abu-Nimer, Director, Peacebuilding and Development Institute, American University

WNV: What does this movement mean for the future of nonviolent action around the world?

I was reminded of the triumph of the Filipino people over the Marcos regime, the independence movement in India, and the civil rights struggle in the United States. But I also thought of the failed revolutions—Tienanmen Square, and the Green Revolution in Iran. Triumph, like the one in Tahrir Square, is certainly sweet and makes you believe, as Martin Luther King Jr. said, that the arc of history bends toward justice. But when the nonviolent movements fail, I think that they never really fail, in that they build up resolve and resources for later struggles to come. I believe that the proponents of human rights and political freedom in Iran and China will still have their day. 
—Mark Juergensmeyer, Director, Orfalea Center for Global and International Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara

WNV: What do you think is the biggest challenge now facing the people of Egypt? 

Extreme vigilance is required to safeguard the gains made in recent days and weeks. It is therefore of paramount importance that measures be taken to prevent an illegal usurpation of political power by groups who may attempt to take advantage of the confusion following the collapse of the regime, in order to stage a coup d’état and simply install themselves as the new masters. Gene Sharp and Bruce Jenkins have written at length on this topic in The Anti-Coup, which details steps that civil society groups and institutions can take to provide anti-coup defense. As I heard one Egyptian say, “Today we celebrate, tomorrow the work begins.” 
—Jamila Raqib, Executive Director, Albert Einstein Institution

WNV: What do you think, above all, made this victory possible?  

There is no single factor that can explain the success of the democratic movement in ousting Mubarak. As with other victories involving broad-based civil resistance, this one required a) language about the need for action that galvanized the public’s mind, lifted its heart, and created an existential moment for the nation; b) acting in the wake of a popular event (Tunisia) and rage from a regime crime (the Khaled Said murder) to mobilize people for specific action, using social media in that work; c) soliciting and welcoming diverse participation from all kinds of groups in the society; d) nonviolent discipline; e) hailing the military and reminding it of its relationship with the people, to help defuse possible repression; f) sustaining the pressure day after day so that the regime’s cost of holding control is ratcheted up; g) diversifying tactics to complicate the regime’s work of coping with resistance; and h) nationwide action, not just in the capital.  
—Jack DuVall, President, International Center for Nonviolent Conflict Facebook. Period.—Reza Aslan, Associate Professor, University of California, Riverside

Planning for the overtaking of the pillars of support, starting with the police, which was overwhelmed in the first few days, winning labor unions and workers, making the military first neutral and then supportive, and shifting international support by peaceful and inspiring protest and tremendous courage. 
—Srdja Popovic, Founder, Centre for Applied Nonviolent Action and Strategies (CANVAS)

Organizers of the April 6 movement, bloggers who had been reporting on human rights violations, internet technic ians who worked for internet freedom, and a vibrant civil society including translators and nonviolent educators knew nonviolent theory and had lots of practice, and people knew and trusted them. All of this takes years of effort.
—Vanessa Ortiz, Founder, In Women’s Hands

What comes to mind is a conversation I had in January with a member of the South African military. I told him, well, I believe peace education is more important than military education because if you use nonviolence the costs are lower and benefits higher. He said, well, what about Cote d’Ivoire? How do we get that guy out? I told him that the ultimate Weapon of Mass Insurrection was general strike. Do it completely long enough and you win, except in the cases like Tibet, where a colonizing population has made the indigenous population less necessary. Sure enough, just when it looked like Egypt could be quite bloody or be crammed back into the Mubarak mold, labor and others joined the rise up and that was decisive. That, I believe, was the tipping point. 
—Tom Hastings, Director of Peace and Nonviolence, Portland State University

Watch out Qadafi, Asad, Abdullah. We are coming for you. 
—Reza Aslan, Associate Professor, University of California, Riverside

For more Egypt coverage, visit WagingNonViolence.org.