Premature Anti-Trump Protests Are Counterproductive

The footage of the anti-Donald Trump marches and the belligerent Tweets criticizing the U.S. president-elect fill me with ambivalence. On the one hand, Trump's victory hardly makes me happy; then again, as someone who has seen, and taken part in, both successful and failed mass protests, I believe the liberal cause would be better served if the demonstrators stayed home.

Street protest is a powerful force. Almost three years ago, I watched people gathered in the center of Kiev topple the government and force the president to flee. Five years ago, I participated in more peaceful protests in Moscow that gave Vladimir Putin a major scare and achieved some concessions such as the easing of party registration rules and the return of gubernatorial elections.