— Aung San Suu Kyi is Number One and Chen Guangcheng is Number Nine —
Yesterday two of the first four Oxi Day Award recipients were named as Foreign Policy’s Top 10 Global Thinkers in 2012.
“Those who make possible Washington Oxi Day Foundation activities should take pride in helping to lift the story of the Greek people’s Oxi Day miracle from the dustbin of history and into the awareness of America’s and the world’s leaders. The image of Greek people everywhere benefit as leaders become aware of this most consequential example of David vs. Goliath courage in modern history — Oxi Day,” said Foundation President and Founder Andrew E. Manatos.
The 2011 Oxi Day Battle of Crete Award recipient Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma was number one on the list of Global Thinkers, and 2012 Oxi Day Award recipient Chen Guangcheng of China was number nine. In addition, the actions of 2011 Oxi Day Award recipient Jamel Bettaieb — one of the five young men who started the Arab Spring in Tunisia — played a major role in the rise of the President of Tunisia Moncef Marzouki to become number two on this list.
This list of “100 Top Global Thinkers 2012” was released yesterday by Foreign Policy Magazine, “the premier, award-winning magazine of global politics, economics, and ideas,” published by the Foreign Policy Group, a division of the Washington Post Company, in Washington, D.C.
Aung San Suu Kyi was named for her leadership in reforming one of “the world’s most repressive dictatorships,” resulting in “one of the most remarkable and unexpected political reversals of our time.”
Foreign Policy Magazine referred to Chen Guangcheng as “a global human rights icon…[who] has embraced his new role as an evangelist for human rights, making the case that incremental change — one village or even one person at a time — can eventually transform a superpower.” The article recalled that, “Chen shocked the world in April when he made a daring, next-to-impossible escape, climbing over the wall surrounding his house (breaking his foot in the process) and finding a ride some 350 miles to Beijing, where he took refuge in the U.S. Embassy. After a tense, days-long diplomatic standoff closely involving Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, a deal was struck under which Chen would be allowed to travel to the United States to study.”
As well, the actions of a third Oxi Day Award recipient played a major role in the accomplishments of another among the top 10 Global Thinkers. Number two on the list was Moncef Marzouki, the new President of Tunisia, “the Arab Spring’s most promising success story.” Because of the actions of Jamel Bettaieb, which began an uprising against and led to the eventual overthrow of Tunisia’s dictator Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, Marzouki, head of Tunisia’s leading human rights organization who was forced into exile in France, was able to return home and become elected president.