World's Leaderless Rebellions Won't Work

Impunity is one of the issues driving mass protests across Brazil that began with anger over fare hikes. A pattern has emerged. From Sidi Bouzid in Tunisia — where a squabble over a fruit-and-vegetable cart ignited the Arab Spring — to Istanbul — where an uprising was triggered by plans to build a mall over a city park — these eruptions with hashtags share characteristics: Small spark, large conflagration; disoriented leader, leaderless movement; vertical rigid state power, flat nimble protests; harsh authority, impish youth; force of the state, flexibility of Facebook; police crackdowns, agile regroupings; conspiracy charges, humorous ripostes. Fidel Castro spent years in the Sierra Maestra preparing his revolution. Twitter has dispensed with that.