Egypt felt as if it had a new start. Expectations that life was about to get better bubbled around the country.
But the sky-high hopes have been overwhelmed by a combination of political failure, entrenched interests and economic crisis.
The revolution in 2011, like the other uprisings in Arab countries, was driven by the dissatisfaction and anger of a new generation.
About 60% of the population across the region was under the age of 30.
They realised that the old order had no room for them, and would never satisfy their desire to have a decent job that would give them the money to have independent lives.
The departure of hope coincided with the exponential growth in modern communications, which meant that countries could not be shut off by their leaders in the way that once was possible.
The under-30s could watch satellite TV, or look at the internet, and realise that not everyone's lives were as tough as theirs had become.
But the energy of 2011's revolutionaries was squashed by the power and organisation of established forces in Egypt, particularly the military, remnants of the old elite and the Muslim Brotherhood. » | Jeremy Bowen | BBC Middle East editor, Cairo | Friday, August 16, 2013
