The U.S.-based Time magazine has recognized unprecedented change in the Middle East and elsewhere around the world by naming “the protester” as its Person of the Year.

In an article Wednesday, Time said the protest movement is largely populated by disenfranchised young adults who are frustrated with a lack of political power and a flailing economy.

In the Middle East, protests beginning in Tunisia and spreading to Egypt, Yemen and Libya resulted in changes in government. In the United States and western Europe, protesters demonstrated against the dire economic situation and disparity of wealth between rich and poor.

The magazine notes that most of the protests this year began independent of any political party. It says the protests are changing global politics.

The runners-up for the Person of the Year are Chinese dissident Ai Weiwei; Kate Middleton, who married Prince William earlier this year; U.S. Representative Paul Ryan, chairman of the House Budget Committee; and U.S. Admiral William McRaven, who led the special forces team that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan.

Meanwhile, Time Magazine says Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was the “People's Choice” for the Person of the Year.

Time says that in an online poll, Mr. Erdogan received 123,000 votes nominating him as the most influential person of the year significantly more than any other nominee.

At the same time, the magazine says the Turkish leader received the largest number of votes — some 180,000 — from people saying he should not receive the accolade.