Outside a café in a Cairo neighborhood named for famed Egyptian revolutionary Saad Zaghloul, 43-year-old Yasser Mahmoud sat smoking a cigarette. “People are in a really bad situation and really can’t breathe,” he said. After four tumultuous years of protest, revolution, and upheaval, Mahmoud’s assessment of life in Egypt was simple: “Not much has changed.”

The toppling of strongman Hosni Mubarak over four years ago brought forth a wave of optimism and hope that Egypt could become a model democracy for a region long plagued by authoritarian dictators. But fast forward to present day and while Egyptians can no longer be found in public arenas marching, chanting, and waving flags. The hope that was freed four years ago seems to have crawled back into its cave.  The revolution is in a coma.