Nov. 28, 2012. An Egyptian protester finds cover behind a destroyed vehicle at the scene of clashes with police near Tahrir Square in Cairo. In conjunction with "Morsi's Moment."Moises Saman—Magnum for TIME
If 2011 was a year of simple, powerful narratives — of revolution and sweeping change — 2012 was when things got a lot more complicated.
The aftermath of the Arab Spring’s upheavals saw uneasy transitions toward democracy. The exhilaration of freedom dissolved in the face of new struggles and contests for power: in Tunisia, Egypt and elsewhere, the streets are once again filled with protesters angry over the advent of religious radicalism, the return of authoritarianism and the unemployment and tough economic conditions that remain. In Syria, peaceful demonstrations in 2011 morphed into a bitter, bloody civil war that has claimed over 40,000 lives and rages on. Hostilities between Israel and its adversaries in the occupied territories were once more renewed as the peace process collapsed and the road map to a two-state solution looked to have been crumpled up and tossed away. And in the U.S., a seemingly endless, costly election cycle served only to restore the status quo: the re-elected President Obama faces many of the same challenges and obstacles he did before Nov. 6.
Throughout 2012, TIME’s unparalleled photojournalists were there. We stood within the tumult of Tahrir Square and shared moments of quiet with the world’s most powerful President. We documented both the ravages of war on Syria’s blasted cities and the devastation nature wrought on our own backyard in the Northeast. At a time when so much hangs in the balance, bearing witness can be the most essential act — and that’s what we do.
—Ishaan Tharoor
Jan. 16, 2012. Sharifa Ibrahim, a nurse at the Sharif Islamic Committee, a community center operated by the Muslim Brotherhood in the Shobra neighborhood of Cairo. The center offers free health and education services to underprivileged families. From "Brotherhood Rising," TIME Asia.Moises Saman—Magnum for TIMEJan. 10, 2012. Ron Paul visits the studio of WMUR in Manchester, N.H., on the eve of the primary elections. From "The 2012 Presidential Election Year in Pictures."Christopher Morris—VII for TIMEJan. 17, 2012. President Obama unexpectedly runs into the First Lady on her birthday in the basement of the White House. From "The 2012 Presidential Election Year in Pictures."Christopher Morris—VII for TIMEJan. 29, 2012. Newt and Callista Gingrich pose for photos during a rally at the Villages in Florida. From "The 2012 Presidential Election Year in Pictures."Ricardo Cases for TIMEFeb. 6, 2012. A Syrian boy hugs a seriously wounded man in a house used as a hospital in Bab Amr, a southern neighborhood of Homs. From "Syria Under Siege."Alessio Romenzi for TIMEFeb. 9, 2012. The dead body of a Free Syrian Army fighter lies in a storage refrigerator in al-Qusayr. From "Photographs of the Syrian Civil War."Alessio Romenzi for TIMEFeb. 14, 2012. A Syrian child mourns her father, who along with two other men was kidnapped and then killed by the shabiha in al-Qusayr. From "Photographs of the Syrian Civil War."Alessio Romenzi for TIMEFeb. 13, 2012. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin meets with a group of parents, teachers and students at School No. 7 in Kurgan, Russia. From "On the Trail with Putin."Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIMEFeb. 22, 2012. A member of the Free Syrian Army rides in the back of a truck in Bab Amr. From "Escape from Syria."William Daniels—Panos for TIMEFeb. 25, 2012. Cars destroyed by the tsunami in Ishinomaki, Japan. From "Japan One Year Later."James Nachtwey for TIMEFeb. 27, 2012. In Namie, Japan, police from Futaba district police station, which is inside the exclusion zone, search for the dead and missing along the oceanfront near the power plant — the stacks of which can be seen in the far distance. From "Japan One Year Later."James Nachtwey for TIMEMarch 19, 2012. A woman who practices Santeria prays at the cathedral of Santiago de Cuba. From "Church and State: The Role of Religion in Cuba."Tomás Munita for TIMEMarch 22, 2012. Children cheer during a campaign speech by Aung San Suu Kyi as a young Buddhist monk stands by. From "Aung San Suu Kyi's Path to Victory."James Nachtwey for TIMEMarch 25, 2012. Rabheen, left, and Miley Esbak visit their brother Ali’s grave in the Green Mountain town of Shehat in eastern Libya. Ali was killed fighting on the front line against Muammar Gaddafi’s forces in April 2011. From "After the Revolution: Libya."Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIMEMarch 2012. Monks gather around a bonfire during a memorial service in Natori, Japan, a year after an earthquake and tsunami destroyed most of the city and left the nation struggling to rebuild. From TIME Asia.Dominic Nahr—Magnum for TIMEMarch 31, 2012. Children play with slingshots in Sirte, the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi’s hometown. From "After the Revolution: Libya."Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIMEApril 2012. In Sudan, a soldier of the northern regime's army lies dead next to a leaking petroleum facility after heavy fighting with southern troops after they entered Heglig in mid-April. From "Tracing the Consequences of War in Divided Sudan."Dominic Nahr—Magnum for TIMEApril 2012. Hungry Nubians outside the caves where they have been hiding. From "Tracing the Consequences of War in Divided Sudan."Dominic Nahr—Magnum for TIMEMay 6, 2012. Hundreds were said to have been arrested and dozens injured as a protest on the eve of Vladimir Putin's presidential inauguration boiled into a battle with police in Moscow. In conjunction with "Inside Putin's Russia."Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIMEMay 2012. In Kabul, young Afghans bowl at the Strikers, Afghanistan’s first and only bowling alley, which opened in the fall of 2011. From "Afghanistan Now."Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIMEJune 2012. Amateur wrestler Buvaysar Eskaev, 16, does a backflip against the wall of his gym in Khasav-Yurt, Russia, where he is training in the hope of becoming an Olympic champion.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIMEJune 28, 2012. A man at a polling site on election day in the village of Erden, Terelj National Park, Mongolia. From "Change in the Gobi: Mongolia's Economic Boom."Davide Monteleone—VII for TIMEJuly 11, 2012. Members of the Popular Committee in Hajjar, Yemen, take a midafternoon break to chew khat, a mildly narcotic leaf favored by Yemenis. From "The End of al-Qaeda? On Patrol in Yemen."Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIMEJuly 14, 2012. President Obama speaks in the rain during a campaign rally in Glen Allen, Va. From "The 2012 Presidential Election Year in Pictures."Brooks Kraft for TIMEJuly 18, 2012. Ultra-Orthodox Jews attend the funeral of Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv in Jerusalem. From "The Ultra-Holy City."Oded Balilty—AP for TIMEJuly 20, 2012. Secular and Orthodox Jews enjoy the sun at a reservoir. From "The Ultra-Holy City."Oded Balilty—AP for TIMEAug. 18, 2012. President Obama exits Air Force One upon arriving at the airport in Manchester, N.H. From "The 2012 Presidential Election Year in Pictures."Callie Shell for TIMEAug. 18, 2012. After a long day, President Obama waits in a tent before a rally at the Rochester Commons in New Hampshire. From "The 2012 Presidential Election Year in Pictures."Callie Shell for TIMEAug. 18, 2012. President Obama waits in a hallway while being introduced at a rally at Windham High School in New Hampshire. From "The 2012 Presidential Election Year in Pictures."Callie Shell for TIMEAug. 3, 2012. Three members of the Russian political punk band Pussy Riot — from left, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, Maria Alyokhina, 24, and Yekaterina Samutsevich, 30 — in the defendants' cage of a courtroom in Moscow during their trial on charges of felony hooliganism. In conjunction with "Inside Putin's Russia."Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIMEAug. 17, 2012. A Russian police officer chases a supporter of Pussy Riot on the fence of the Turkish embassy in Moscow, across the street from the courthouse where three members of the band were on trial for felony hooliganism. In conjunction with "Inside Putin's Russia."Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIMEAug. 20, 2012. Mitt Romney, in a quiet moment, works on a plane heading toward campaign events in New Orleans. From "The 2012 Presidential Election Year in Pictures."Lauren Fleishman for TIMEAug. 30, 2012. The final night of the Republican National Convention in Tampa. From "The 2012 Presidential Election Year in Pictures."Christopher Morris—VII for TIMESept. 14, 2012. Protesters throw rocks at Egyptian security forces near the U.S. embassy in Cairo. From "Photographing the Clashes in Cairo."Moises Saman—Magnum for TIMEOct. 23, 2012. Latif, who contracted polio when he was 8, in the impoverished outskirts of Karachi.Diego Ibarra Sánchez for TIMEOct. 31, 2012. Hurricane Sandy pulverized Jersey Shore towns like Mantoloking, where wind and storm surges destroyed houses and the boardwalk. From "Outsmarting the Surge."Andrew Quilty for TIMENov. 3, 2012. Susan Aman searches through the remains of her father’s home, which was carried by floodwater into a marsh. She is crouching on top of what she believes was her father’s bedroom.Eugene Richards for TIMENov. 4, 2012. In Seaside Heights, N.J., the Jet Star roller coaster at Casino Pier, once a Jersey Shore landmark, was submerged in the Atlantic as a result of Hurricane Sandy. From "Flooded, Uprooted, Burned: The Tracks of Sandy on the Shore."Stephen Wilkes for TIMENov. 9, 2012. Strong winds and waves ripped several homes from their foundation, like this one in the Oakwood neighborhood of Staten Island, N.Y. From "Flooded, Uprooted, Burned: The Tracks of Sandy on the Shore."Stephen Wilkes for TIMENov. 18, 2012. Palestinians try to remove rubble from a Gaza City house bombed by the Israeli air force. From "The Gaza Problem."Alessio Romenzi for TIMENov. 19, 2012. Palestinians shout in rage at the al-Shifa Hospital morgue after the arrival of the body of Ramez Harb, an Islamic militant killed by an Israeli air strike directed at the al-Shoroq building in Gaza City. From "The Gaza Problem."Alessio Romenzi for TIMENov. 28, 2012. An Egyptian protester finds cover behind a destroyed vehicle at the scene of clashes with police near Tahrir Square in Cairo. In conjunction with "Morsi's Moment."Moises Saman—Magnum for TIMEDec. 6, 2012. A wounded pro-government protester is helped during clashes between supporters and opponents of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi outside the presidential palace in Cairo.Alessio Romenzi for TIME
