Four years after hundreds of thousands of Egyptians took to the streets to demand political, social and economic change, their movement has been overshadowed by the country’s ongoing war against terrorism. From the carpet merchant on the side of the road to the dental hygienist to the film director, Egyptians from all walks of life had invested in the so-called Arab Spring to bring about pivotal change that would alter their destinies for the better. But every anniversary since January 25, 2011 has witnessed a deterioration in the mood among activists, human rights advocates and reformists. In the first year since then President Hosni Mubarak was forced to step down, many Egyptians still braved the odds and violence, and held hope that a new Egypt was within grasp. But by January 2013, the revolutionary zeal and momentum for change had been replaced with an existential battle waged between the Muslim Brotherhood and the state – the military polity that has run the country since the end of the monarchy in 1952. The idealists and the reformists are caught in the middle, their voices drowned out by the rhetoric of war waged between the self-styled nationalists and the Islamists. The idealists and the reformists are caught in the middle, their voices drowned out by the rhetoric of war waged between the self-styled nationalists and the Islamists. With scores dead and wounded during the fourth anniversary this past Sunday – and dozens arrested for violating a controversial anti-protest law – the mood has again changed, this time from sombre resignation that the military is back in control to angry acknowledgment of a chance at change squandered. “I don’t feel inspired when I see our old victories … I find myself thinking not of victories but of opportunities wasted and of crimes unaccounted for,” says Omar Kamel, a videographer and blogger. Between 2011 and 2013, Kamel took part in dozens of demonstrations calling for political reform; he has seen protesters killed and wounded, and himself sustained injuries. He is angered by how things have developed in the past four years and says he can’t celebrate a “high” when it was followed by such a dismal decline. “I’m sorry, but our successes have been too few, and the costs too high. We are the survivors and we are all wanting,” he added. The fourth anniversary, perhaps more than any other, has ignited passionate and often feverish debate on social media. Some ask if the revolution really is dead while others ponder where it all went wrong. For Khaled Bahaeldin, a surgeon and occasional political commentator, the premise of the revolution itself was flawed to begin with. He believes that the slogans of the revolution – “Bread, Freedom and Social Justice” – were irrational and antagonistic. “Freedom is too sacrosanct to be tied to bread,” he says “I cannot demand freedom and simultaneously relieve myself from the responsibility inherent with freedom to cater for myself.” Bahaeldin believes that projecting the ailments and tragedies of the region solely on its corrupt and decadent governance is misdirected. He argues that a political revolution must work in tandem with a movement directed at concrete social change – what he calls the inward revolution. While some see gloom and doom in Egypt’s current state of affairs, others put their faith in the current government to lead the way forward. Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi is seen as a hero by many and credited with “saving” the country from the “tyranny” of extremist Islamists. The growing regional influence of such groups as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and the civil war between Islamist militias in neighboring Libya has helped cement El-Sisi’s image as guardian of the Egyptian state. In the past two years, the Egyptian military has been engaged in an escalating war against such groups as Ansar Beit al Maqdis (Vanguards of Jerusalem), which recently declared allegiance to ISIL. The war has proven costly. On Thursday, Ansar Beit al Maqdis claimed responsibility for targeting the Egyptian Army in a string of attacks which killed at least 30 people, mostly soldiers, in Sinai. The Interior Ministry said 62 civilians were also wounded in the attacks. They will have to unify people under a viable alternative rather than just reaffirming their refusal of the regime. Such terrorist violence confirms to many that Egypt is under a regional terrorist threat – or plot – that can only be defeated by rallying around El-Sisi, who was defence minister before being elected president in May 2014. Independent Egyptian media, which used to predominantly carry opposition voices just a few years ago, has largely leaned in support of the country’s leadership.