Time's Person of the Year? The protester

Time Magazine's the Person of the Year issue featuring 'The Protester' (AP)

From the Arab Spring to the steps of St Paul's, it was the force that could not be ignored. Now Time magazine has paid tribute to people power by choosing "The Protester" as its Person of the Year.

The weekly news magazine said its choice for the person who made the single greatest impact in 2011 recognised protesters as a whole, for turning a wave of dissent into action. Rick Stengel, the magazine's managing editor, said: "They dissented, they demanded, they did not despair, even when the answers came back in a hail of bullets. They literally embodied the idea that individual action can bring collective, colossal change."

Runner-up was Admiral William McRaven, who commanded the US raid that killed Osama bin Laden. Next was Ai Weiwei, the Chinese dissident artist whose secret detention this year by Beijing authorities sparked an international outcry.