FRED DUFOUR/AFP/Getty Images
26. Aung San Suu Kyi
for being a living symbol of hope in a dark place.
ACTIVIST | NATIONAL LEAGUE FOR DEMOCRACY | BURMA
Taking inspiration from Mohandas Gandhi and Buddhist principles of nonviolence, Aung San Suu Kyi built a mass movement in
opposition
to the Burmese junta and has spent 14 of the last 20 years under house
arrest since winning a general election in 1989.
In a famous 1990 speech, Aung San Suu Kyi argued that when "fear is an integral part of everyday existence,
" political leaders inevitably give in to corruption, and called for a "revolution of the spirit" in Burma. Instead,
she was thrown in prison and today is rarely able to communicate with the outside world. Her sentence was extended this year
after a bizarre incident in which an American man swam to her house to meet with her -- violating the terms of her arrest.
But in a major shift, Aung San Suu Kyi changed her stance on the international sanctions against Burma this year,
offering to help the junta's leaders get the sanctions lifted.