Time Names 'The Protester' Person of the Year

Protesters started wars, brought down governments, earned new freedoms, and, we can say without hyperbole, changed the world in 2011.

Between Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Syria, Bahrain, Israel, Saudi Arabia, New York, London, Rome, Athens, Madrid, Moscow, Toronto, Oakland, and even the world wide web, 2011 was a year shaped by protests, and the causes of and responses to them. Hence, it comes as no surprise that Time magazine has named "the protester" its person of the year for 2011. After all, it was Mohammed Bouazizi, a Tunisian fruit vendor tired of being harassed by an oppressive government, who kicked off the Arab Spring with that most spectacular of protests, self-immolation. And now, a year afterward, there are new governments being formed in three (four if you count Yemen) Arab countries, as well as Greece and Italy. The ramifications of 2011's street protests – whether it was Occupy Wall Street or Jerusalem's tent protests, Muscovites decrying voter fraud or British students fighting back against tuition hikes – disrupted and permanently altered political discourse in countries far removed from the daily battles of Cairo and Benghazi. All of which is to say that Time got it right this year, even if Kate Middleton was a runner-up.