What happened to the 2011 Arab revolutions? They reverberated throughout the Middle East and North Africa and around the globe, influencing movements from Occupy to the indignados. Even after the Arab Spring had mostly passed, the wave they helped initiate continued in Gezi Park, the Corbyn and Sanders campaigns, and Black Lives Matter.

But the immediate outlook in the region has become bleak. Only Tunisia offers even the limited hope of democracy and progressive social policies. Meanwhile, Egypt and Bahrain are in lockdown; Libya is mired in civil war; and Yemen and Syria are gripped by brutal conflicts aided by outside powers.

Drawing on sources in Arabic, English, and French, Gilbert Achcar’s Morbid Symptoms: Relapse in the Arab Uprising, offers the clearest and most comprehensive analysis of the fate of these revolutions. A sequel to his The People Want: A Radical Examination of the Arab Uprising, his newest book follows the story through December 2015, concentrating on developments in Syria and Egypt.