Yet, for all of the success epitomized by the protests in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, bringing down a dictatorship is one thing – a drama lasting a few weeks – while the transition to a functioning, consolidated democracy is quite another. Here, a lengthy process is involved, and its success – exemplified in the post-communist transitions in Eastern Europe – depends on key preconditions.
然而，以开罗解放广场抗争为代表的这些成功运动，如今面临真正的考验——推翻独裁不过是几个星期的一幕戏剧，而向一个有效、稳固的民主转型则完全是另一回事了。后者将是一个长期的演进过程，而成功的转型——东欧的后共产主义转轨是其典范——有赖于若干关键前提。