1. TED Talks: Wael Ghonim: Inside the Egyptian revolution
Wael Ghonim is the Google executive who helped jumpstart Egypt's democratic revolution ... with a Facebook page memorializing a victim of the regime's violence. Speaking at TEDxCairo, he tells the inside story of the past two months, when everyday Egyptians showed that "the power of the people is stronger than the people in power."
2. TED Talks: Bahia Shehab: A thousand times no
Art historian Bahia Shehab has long been fascinated with the Arabic script for ‘no.’ When revolution swept through Egypt in 2011, she began spraying the image in the streets saying no to dictators, no to military rule and no to violence.
3. TED Talks: George Ayittey: Africa's cheetahs versus hippos
Ghanaian economist George Ayittey unleashes a torrent of controlled anger toward corrupt leaders in Africa — and calls on the “Cheetah generation” to take back the continent.
4. TED Talks: Ngozi Okonjo Iweala: Aid versus trade
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the former finance minister of Nigeria, sums up four days of intense discussion on aid versus trade on the closing day of TEDGlobal 2007, and shares a personal story explaining her own commitment to this cause.
5. TED Talks: Srdja Popovic: How to topple a dictator
2011 was a year of people-powered resistance, starting with Arab Spring and spreading across the world. How did it work? Srdja Popovic (who led the nonviolent movement that took down Milosevic in Serbia in 2000) lays out the plans, skills and tools each movement needs — from nonviolent tactics to a sense of humor.
6. TED Talks: Scilla Elworthy: Fighting with nonviolence
How do you deal with a bully without becoming a thug? In this wise and soulful talk, peace activist Scilla Elworthy maps out the skills we need — as nations and individuals — to fight extreme force without using force in return. To answer the question of why and how nonviolence works, she evokes historical heroes — Aung San Suu Kyi, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela — and the personal philosophies that powered their peaceful protests.
7. TED Talks: Afra Raymond: Three myths about corruption
Trinidad and Tobago amassed great wealth in the 1970s thanks to oil. But in 1982, a shocking fact was revealed — that 2 out of every 3 dollars earmarked for development had been wasted or stolen. This has haunted Afra Raymond for 30 years. Shining a flashlight on a continued history of government corruption, Raymond gives us a reframing of financial crime.
8. TED Talks: Sasa Vucinic: Why we should invest in a free press
A free press — papers, magazines, radio, TV, blogs — is the backbone of any true democracy (and a vital watchdog on business). Sasa Vucinic, a journalist from Belgrade, talks about his new fund, which supports media by selling "free press bonds."
9. TED Talks: Wadah Khanfar: A historic moment in the Arab world
As a democratic revolution led by tech-empowered young people sweeps the Arab world, Wadah Khanfar, the head of Al Jazeera, shares a profoundly optimistic view of what's happening in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and beyond — at this powerful moment when people realized they could step out of their houses and ask for change.
10. TED Talks: Zahra' Langhi: Why Libya's revolution didn't work and what might
In Libya, Zahra' Langhi was part of the "days of rage" movement that helped topple the dictator Gaddafi. But — then what? In their first elections, Libyans tried an innovative slate of candidates, the "zipper ballot," that ensured equal representation from men and women of both sides. Yet the same gridlocked politics of dominance and exclusion won out. What Libya needs now, Langhi suggests, is collaboration, not competition; compassion, not rage.
11. TED Talks: Manal al Sharif: A Saudi woman who dared to drive
Wael Ghonim is the Google executive who helped jumpstart Egypt's democratic revolution ... with a Facebook page memorializing a victim of the regime's violence. Speaking at TEDxCairo, he tells the inside story of the past two months, when everyday Egyptians showed that "the power of the people is stronger than the people in power."
2. TED Talks: Bahia Shehab: A thousand times no
Art historian Bahia Shehab has long been fascinated with the Arabic script for ‘no.’ When revolution swept through Egypt in 2011, she began spraying the image in the streets saying no to dictators, no to military rule and no to violence.
3. TED Talks: George Ayittey: Africa's cheetahs versus hippos
Ghanaian economist George Ayittey unleashes a torrent of controlled anger toward corrupt leaders in Africa — and calls on the “Cheetah generation” to take back the continent.
4. TED Talks: Ngozi Okonjo Iweala: Aid versus trade
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the former finance minister of Nigeria, sums up four days of intense discussion on aid versus trade on the closing day of TEDGlobal 2007, and shares a personal story explaining her own commitment to this cause.
5. TED Talks: Srdja Popovic: How to topple a dictator
2011 was a year of people-powered resistance, starting with Arab Spring and spreading across the world. How did it work? Srdja Popovic (who led the nonviolent movement that took down Milosevic in Serbia in 2000) lays out the plans, skills and tools each movement needs — from nonviolent tactics to a sense of humor.
6. TED Talks: Scilla Elworthy: Fighting with nonviolence
How do you deal with a bully without becoming a thug? In this wise and soulful talk, peace activist Scilla Elworthy maps out the skills we need — as nations and individuals — to fight extreme force without using force in return. To answer the question of why and how nonviolence works, she evokes historical heroes — Aung San Suu Kyi, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela — and the personal philosophies that powered their peaceful protests.
7. TED Talks: Afra Raymond: Three myths about corruption
Trinidad and Tobago amassed great wealth in the 1970s thanks to oil. But in 1982, a shocking fact was revealed — that 2 out of every 3 dollars earmarked for development had been wasted or stolen. This has haunted Afra Raymond for 30 years. Shining a flashlight on a continued history of government corruption, Raymond gives us a reframing of financial crime.
8. TED Talks: Sasa Vucinic: Why we should invest in a free press
A free press — papers, magazines, radio, TV, blogs — is the backbone of any true democracy (and a vital watchdog on business). Sasa Vucinic, a journalist from Belgrade, talks about his new fund, which supports media by selling "free press bonds."
9. TED Talks: Wadah Khanfar: A historic moment in the Arab world
As a democratic revolution led by tech-empowered young people sweeps the Arab world, Wadah Khanfar, the head of Al Jazeera, shares a profoundly optimistic view of what's happening in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and beyond — at this powerful moment when people realized they could step out of their houses and ask for change.
10. TED Talks: Zahra' Langhi: Why Libya's revolution didn't work and what might
In Libya, Zahra' Langhi was part of the "days of rage" movement that helped topple the dictator Gaddafi. But — then what? In their first elections, Libyans tried an innovative slate of candidates, the "zipper ballot," that ensured equal representation from men and women of both sides. Yet the same gridlocked politics of dominance and exclusion won out. What Libya needs now, Langhi suggests, is collaboration, not competition; compassion, not rage.
11. TED Talks: Manal al Sharif: A Saudi woman who dared to drive
There's no actual law against women driving in Saudi Arabia. But it's
forbidden. Two years ago, Manal al-Sharif decided to encourage women to
drive by doing so — and filming herself for YouTube. Hear her story of
what happened next.