In Istanbul, the protesters want green space and the right to enjoy a glass of wine. In S?o Paulo, the demand on the streets is for decent public transport and a crackdown on police corruption. The placards may be different, but the forces at work in these recent disturbances have been much the same. Politics in the rising world has been left behind by the tumultuous pace of economic and social change. The stresses are not about to go away any time soon. Welcome to the age of unrest.

At a glance, there was little to unite the demonstrators in Istanbul and Ankara with the angry crowds in S?o Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. The former channelled anger at an authoritarian, albeit elected, prime minister who has challenged secular freedoms. The Islamism of Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Justice and Development party (AKP) collides with the social liberalism of an urban middle class. The catalyst for the flash protests in Brazil was a rise in bus fares – and the contrast it pointed up between failing services for Brazilians and the vast sums expended on the football World Cup and Olympics.

Missing, too, has been an obvious read-across from these nations to uprisings against autocrats in the Arab world or challenges to regimes such as those in China or Russia. Turkey and Brazil are democracies. Until recently, the former has been held as a role model for the Arab world – a lesson in how to meld pluralism and economic vibrancy with Islam. After a century of promise unfulfilled, Brazil has crossed the line between potential and actual power. Between the two nations, tens of millions have been lifted from poverty.