Charting the global events and changing state of the world, in parallel with his personal story of a car accident that left him paralysed from the shoulders down, Peter Apps examines how our recent past will inform our near future. History, he says, is not over. From the very real threat of global wars, the rise of the far right in Europe, the global financial crisis to misguided assumptions about the root causes of events like 9/11, dictatorship and oppression, Peter explores what went wrong in our society, who is really in charge and the role we all need to play going forward. While reporting on the civil war in Sri Lanka in 2006, journalist Peter Apps was paralysed from the shoulders down in a car accident, aged just 25. Since then, he has continued to travel and write as a global affairs commentator for Reuters, with postings overseas in southern Africa and South Asia. He has covered conflicts and crises, reporting on everything from emerging markets to defense. Of the more than 20 countries he has reported from, over half have been since the injury. Peter is also the founder and executive director of a pop-up think tank, the Project for Study of the 21st Century, a member of the British Army Reserve and an active member of the UK Labour Party. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx
