Why do we have to choose between nationalism and globalism, between loving our countries and caring for the world? In a talk with lessons for avowed nationalists and globalists alike, Wanis Kabbaj explains how we can challenge this...

What does it mean to be an active citizen? It's about more than just voting and paying taxes, says social entrepreneur Gabriel Marmentini. He explains why we can't rely on the state alone to solve all our problems — and presents the four...

This video explains the role of local government in our everyday lives and how decisions are made at the local level. It discusses the different types of city government, such as the mayor-council and council-manager systems, and how...

Dr. Forrester talks about the responsibilities of the federal government and explains that one of these responsibilities is overseeing the United States military. She describes the value of our military and its development.

American democracy has a lineage of written records that we can trace to show the development of our nation, and how each document builds on those before it to make our foundation of freedom stronger. In this video, the documents...

The American election system is complicated, to say the least -- but voting is one of the most tangible ways that each of us can shape our communities. How can we make the system more modern, inclusive and secure? Civic engagement...

A war zone can pass for a mostly peaceful place when no one is watching, says investigative journalist and TED Fellow Anjan Sundaram. In this short, incisive talk, he takes us inside the conflict in the Central African Republic, where he...

Karl Marx and Frederick Engels were philosophers, political theorists, and economists responsible for writing the communist manifesto, which is today probably the most widely recognized text outlining a system for a communal...

In the aftermath of the revolutions and upheaval in 18th and early 19th century Europe, there was a hunger for reform across the continent. Reformers like Robert Owen, Charles Fourier, and Auguste Comte proposed radical new ideas, and at...

Still invisible and often an afterthought, indigenous peoples are uniting to protect the world's water, lands and history -- while trying to heal from genocide and ongoing inequality. Tribal attorney and Couchiching First Nation citizen...

As authoritarian leaders challenge democratic institutions around the world, some people are questioning whether democracy is even the best political system. In a wide-ranging conversation, writer Bret Stephens and social entrepreneur...

We are embarrassingly unaware of how divided our societies are, and Brexit grew out of a deep, unexamined divide between those that fear globalization and those that embrace it, says social scientist Alexander Betts. How do we now...

It doesn't matter whether you love or hate guns; it's obvious that the uS would be a safer place if there weren't thousands of them sold every day without background checks. Dan Gross, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun...

Sixty-five million people were displaced from their homes by conflict and disaster in 2016. It's not just a crisis; it's a test of who we are and what we stand for, says David Miliband -- and each of us has a personal responsibility to...

Pupil outcome: I can explain the contribution charities, NGOs and groups make in our community. Key learning points: - Charities address community needs, focusing on helping people, the environment and animals. - NGOs offer humanitarian...

This panel was held by the British Embassy in Washington, DC on February 11, 2020 in partnership with the U.S. National Science Foundation and Axios.



For more in this series, watch "Designing Our...

Our brains are hardwired to crave community and belonging — a tribal instinct that drives politics in the United States, says political strategist Sarah Longwell. She shares what she learned trying to convince people to vote against...

Appearing by telepresence robot, Edward Snowden speaks at TED2014 about surveillance and Internet freedom. The right to data privacy, he suggests, is not a partisan issue, but requires a fundamental rethink of the role of the internet in...

Spencer J. Cox, Republican governor of the state of Utah in the United States, says that even in these deeply polarized times, it's still possible to disagree without hate or contempt. He shows how this idea sparked a viral campaign ad...

Khadijah Tribble eloquently describes how marijuana reform is necessary to end the destructive war on drugs. Differential enforcement of marijuana drug laws have led to ongoing, systemic social and economic inequity. Tribble suggests...

Steven Rogers retired from Harvard Business School (HBS) in 2019 where he was the “MBA Class of 1957 Senior Lecturer” in General Management.

He taught Entrepreneurial Finance and a new course that he created,...

Classicist and political theorist Josiah Ober (Stanford) explores the idea of adapting classical Athenian principles of government to our modern world using technology. He considers Aristotle's belief that the city-state was the ideal...

A young Yazidi survivor of slavery is in the UK urging British lawmakers and lawyers today to help free the thousands of women and girls that remain captive at the hands of Islamic State militants in northern Iraq. Nadia Murad Basee...

People send 100 billion WhatsApp messages every day -- and they're all encrypted to protect them from potentially curious entities like companies, governments and even WhatsApp itself. With our increased reliance on digital communication...