Name: How to topple a dictator
Uploaded: 2011-12-05T16:27:01Z
Duration: 11 min 46 s
Description: People-powered resistance: can it work? Srdja Popovic led the nonviolent movement that took down Milosevic in Serbia in 2000; he lays out the plans, skills and tools that a people-powered movement needs -- from nonviolent tactics to a sense of humor.

People-powered resistance: can it work? Srdja Popovic led the nonviolent movement that took down Milosevic in Serbia in 2000; he lays out the plans, skills and tools that a people-powered movement needs -- from nonviolent tactics to a sense of humor.

How to topple a dictator

People power can topple dictators and reshape societies, but it succeeds through learned skills, not spontaneous outrage. From the Arab Spring to historic movements in India and Poland, unity, discipline, and planning have proven more crucial than the conditions on the ground. A single act of violence can derail a movement, while humor and creativity can outsmart even the most oppressive regimes. Over the past 35 years, nonviolent struggle led to change in 50 out of 67 transitions to democracy.