Photo: James Duncan Davidson

Former Deputy Prime Minister of Libya and engineering professor Mustafa Abushagur takes the stage at TEDGlobal 2013 to look at where the Arab Spring has been, and where it is going.

The Arab world once led human civilization in culture, philosophy, mathematics and science, but in the last century the region found itself first under colonization — then, after gaining independence, its people found themselves living under dictatorships, mostly led by militarized Arab nationalists.

In 1969 Moammar Gaddafi came to power after a coup d’état in Libya. Abushagur had just finished high school. In 1975 Abushagur left Libya to study abroad. It was the last time that he would see his family in decades. Having declared a Cultural Revolution in 1973, Gaddafi’s regime was becoming virulent. Gaddafi ruled for 42 years in Libya. For 42 years, says Abushagur, “only one man spoke and everyone listened, and anyone who dared to speak ended up in prison or dead.” Abushagur joined the opposition against Gaddafi and was exiled. He says, “Libyans will never forget the holy month of Ramadan in 1984 when their children were hanged in the streets across the country.” The executions were broadcast live on television.

Photo: James Duncan Davidson

On December 17, 2010, 26-year-old Tunisian Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire in protest of political conditions, igniting the Arab Spring. Everything changed. As Abushagur says, “By setting himself on fire, he set the whole Arab world on fire.” In the next few months, as the governments in Tunisia, Libya and Egypt fell, the Arab world found itself asking: What next? After the revolution, in Libya, expectations for immediate change were extremely high; but, as Abushagur says, “After dictators came to their knees we still had the same problems. … We had to fight against the legacy of the dictatorships.”

In 2011 Abushagur joined the first interim government in Libya as Deputy Prime Minister. The pressure was immense: The desire to transform after years of oppression weighed on his shoulders. The government decided transparency would be at the top of their agenda. For the first time ever, the government published meeting minutes, plans for its initial term, and financial accounting of income and expenditures. In July 2012, Libya held its first elections in almost 50 years. They were “the first transparent elections, period,” says Abushagur. Nearly 90 percent of the people eligible to vote registered, and voter turnout was 75 percent. Abushagur recalls seeing a 95-year-old woman leaving the polls. When he asked her who she voted for, she said, “Really, I don’t know. But I just wanted to vote and exercise my right.”

Photo: James Duncan Davidson

But, says Abushagur, Libya is now in danger of losing the progress it has made. Instability has led to high unemployment rates, among many other problems. He outlines three major areas the post-Arab Spring nations must focus on to build sustainable democracies, a strategy he calls the “E³“:

1. Education

Abushagur calls for a major overhaul of education in North Africa. Our education systems don’t prepare our students for the job market, he says; they need more useful training. Drawing on his years of experience in American secondary schools, Abushagur suggests that Libya can learn a lot from the rest of the world in the field of education. Schools, he says, are a place for peaceful and respectful civil debate and dissent. A strong education system counters radical extremism, which preys on the illiterate and poorly educated. Education reform is imperative.

2. Entrepreneurship

The power and creativity of young people in the Middle East and North Africa has been proven, says Abushagur. After all, he says, “Many of them led our revolutions.” With some of those nations’ populations dominated by people under 35, governments should encourage entrepreneurship and create ecosystems for new businesses to start and grow. He calls for entrepreneurship incubation centers, where young people can find support, grants, resources, mentors, and reliable internet and electricity, and where they can connect with other like-minded creative thinkers.

3. Economics

Abushagur calls for the establishment of economic development zones to counter the “archaic and nonsensical” regulatory systems and laws rampant in Libya and other post-Arab Spring nations. The conditions are so bad, says Abushagur, that it would be far easier to create parallel, simple, efficient institutions from scratch under fresh rules and regulations.

The Arab Spring is at a crossroads. Abushagur says, “We have a window of opportunity in the Arab world — and that window is shrinking.”

TED Fellows Erik Hersman and Adrian Hong have curated the TEDGlobal 2013 session “Forces of Change.”

Only one thing is constant in the world — that things will continually change and evolve.  Session 9 of TEDGlobal 2013, called “Forces of Change,” will explore how, in recent years, much of the change happening in the world has originated in Africa or Asia. This session, which will be guest curated by TED Fellows Erik Hersman and Adrian Hong, will explore the powerful and unexpected forces of change emerging from these continents, from political upheaval to economic shifts to art and innovation.

How did this session originate?

Erik Hersman: When TEDGlobal director Bruno Giussani approached us last year with the idea to guest curate a session together, we jumped on a call and started thinking about how the people we know and admire, the movements we see, the world that we are a part of could best be showcased on the TED stage.

Adrian Hong: The theme “Forces of Change” is a way to highlight the strong movements, energies and people that are driving major shifts in the world, particularly in Africa and Asia, the regions in which Erik and I work.

How do your professional backgrounds and interests complement each other as co-curators for this session?

Hersman: As a technologist based in Kenya, I tend to focus on Africa, specifically in the fields of technology and business. Adrian is a strategist and advisor engaged in Asia, North Africa and the Middle East. Both of us have been involved with the frontlines of technology use in these regions during political change and unrest, as well as for business. This made it easy to tap into our knowledge of people and organizations in each region to bring interesting insights into the TED community.

Hong: Erik and I both tend to travel quite a bit and come across people, players and insights that aren’t always readily accessible or apparent from a distance. We’re both excited to be able to highlight some of those in this session. Erik and I have also known each other for years — we were both in the first class of TED Fellows and TED Senior Fellows. We also share an affinity for promoting innovation and forward-thinking in austere and challenging environments.

How did you go about choosing speakers?

Hong: We both tried to find speakers who represent the future that is being made now — voices that are heralding, in some way, what is to come in places that are also critically important to their respective regions, as well as globally. There are some real shifts underway now, just under the surface, that will reshape entire industries, continents and interests. We’re quite fortunate to have been able to grab some speakers who are at the forefront of either leading the charge, or of understanding shifts that may be less apparent to the untrained eye.

Hersman: Looking for speakers was a lot harder than I first imagined. It’s not just important to find someone doing something interesting, new or insightful, but also someone who can tell the story of what they do in a way that resonates. We ended up starting from the very top, the people we admire and who are actively involved in doing some of the most exciting things, or doing the best job at researching or writing about their work. Luckily, almost all of these people were available, so we’re excited to introduce them from the TED stage in Edinburgh.

Tell us a bit about the speakers you picked.

Hong: Charles Robertson will be highlighting the seismic shifts happening the Africa of today as compared to the Africa that is stereotyped in the eyes of outsiders. He believes Africa is poised to be an engine of massive economic development, and says it will go from being the “bottom billion” to the “fastest billion.” Mustafa Abushagur, a long-time Libyan opposition leader and first democratically chosen Prime Minister-elect of Libya, will share with us his prescriptions for stabilizing the Arab Spring and helping countries to build stronger societies post-revolution. And Joseph Kim will speak about growing up in North Korea, and how his story may herald possibilities for the future of North Korea as a nation.

Hersman: Dambisa Moyo is a long-time favorite of mine. She explores some of the uncomfortable truths of development aid in Africa and China’s position on resource economics. She’ll be a great startup speaker for the session. Toby Shapshak will offer up some thoughts on innovation in Africa, and how we should pay more attention to what’s happening on this continent. And Just a Band is an eclectic band of Kenyan artists who will surprise everyone with their exuberant electronica.

Which speakers do you think will blow us away?

Hersman: I’m particularly excited about Dambisa Moyo. I’ve been a longtime reader of her work, and think she’ll deliver a great talk. Outside of our session, I’m most looking forward to Daniel Suarez’s talk. We at Ushahidi are all fervent readers of his work.

Hong: All of our speakers are extraordinary in their own way and right. Part of the beauty and magic of TED is that there is something for everyone — and often the talks and speakers we least expect to resonate with our personal interests spark thoughts, insights and inspiration in ways rather unexpected and often profound.

Zahra' Langhi: Why Libya's revolution didn't work -- and what might

Activist Zahra’ Langhi was part of the “day of rage” that eventually led to Gaddafi’s toppling. But the cost was high — a six month war in which almost 50,000 people lost their lives. In today’s powerful talk, Langhi turns her eye to the incredible task of rebuilding the country.

“Gaddafi left behind a heavy burden — a legacy of tyranny and corruption. For four decades, Gaddafi’s tyrannical regime destroyed the infrastructure, as well as the culture and moral fabric, of Libyan society,” says Langhi. “I was keen — along with many other women — to rebuild Libyan civil society, calling for an inclusive and just transition to democracy.”

To that end, Langhi co-founded the Libyan Women’s Platform for Peace (LWPP), a group lobbying for women to be included as the Libyan government was reformed. In this talk, Langhi explains the “zipper list,” an initiative the group championed which called for political parties to alternate male and female candidates, weaving both genders onto their ballots. At first, this worked remarkably well.

“However, bit by bit, the euphoria of the elections — and of the revolution as a whole — was fading out, for every day we were waking up to the news of violence,” says Langhi. “Our society, shaped by a revolutionary mindset, became more polarized and driven away from the ideas and principles — freedom, dignity, social justice — that we first held. Intolerance, exclusion and revenge became the post-math of the revolution.”

Today, Langhi questions whether “rage” was the right path out of dictatorship. In this talk, she posits that perhaps what her country needed more than quantitative representation of women in government was the qualitative representation of traditionally feminine values like compassion, mercy and consensus building. To hear Langhi’s important thoughts on what needs to happen after a revolution, watch her talk.

Here, more TED Talks about revolution in the Middle East.

Wael Ghonim: Inside the Egyptian revolutionWael Ghonim: Inside the Egyptian revolution Google executive Wael Ghonim helped galvanize Egypt’s revolution by creating a Facebook page memorializing a man who was tortured by Mubarak’s regime. Still, he says, in the Egyptian revolution, no one was a hero — because everyone was a hero. In this talk from TEDxCairo, Wael Ghonim tells the story of the first two months of the revolution — a story we now know is still in progress.

Bahia Shehab: A thousand times noBahia Shehab: A thousand times no In Arabic, there is a phrase: “No, and a thousand times no.”  As revolution spread through Egypt, art historian Bahia Shehab took up her stencil and proclaimed “a thousand times no” to dictators, to military rule, to violence against women. In this brave talk from TEDGlobal 2012, Shehab shares her previously anonymous work with the world.

Srdja Popovic: How to topple a dictatorSrdja Popovic: How to topple a dictator Why was 2011 such a pivotal year for people-powered revolutions? In this talk from TEDxKrakow, Srdja Popovic — himself a part of the movement that toppled Milosevic in 2000 — looks at why these revolutions gained so much footing. He outlines the skills and tactics needed to oust a dictator. Most surprising: a sense of humor.

Wadah Khanfar: A historic moment in the Arab worldWadah Khanfar: A historic moment in the Arab world The former head of Al Jazeera, Wadah Khanfar has a unique perspective on the Arab Spring. “Change was imposed on us and people rejected that because they thought it was alien to the culture,” he says in this Talk from TED2011.  “Always, we believed, change should spring from within.” Here, Khanfar speaks with great optimism about revolutions in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and beyond.

Dalia Mogahed: The attitudes that sparked Arab SpringDalia Mogahed: The attitudes that sparked the Arab Spring It’s the opposite of what one would expect: as Egypt grew in wealth, its people’s satisfaction plummeted. This was what Dalia Mogahed, the director of the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies, saw even before the Arab Spring. In this talk from TEDxSummit, she shares some of the grievances she saw in survey data — which sprung not out of distrust of the West, but admiration.