From the brains behind Iran's Green Revolution to the economic Cassandra who actually did have a crystal ball, they had the big ideas that shaped our world in 2009. Read on to see the 100 minds that mattered most in the year that was.
On the first places is Ben Bernanke Chairman of Federal Reserve Washington ,
The Zen-like chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve might not have topped the list solely for turning his superb academic career into a blueprint for action, for single-handedly reinventing the role of a central bank, or for preventing the collapse of the U.S. economy.
The last 100 is Paul Kennedy Historian from Yale University.
Kennedy literally wrote the book on imperial decline. His classic, The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers, charts the course of the great European empires, describing the pattern of economic expansion, territorial conquest, and imperial overstretch to which countries from Spain to Britain fell victim.
And on the Number 32 is Anwar Ibrahim, Opposition leader People's Justice Party Malaysia.
Two decades ago, it would have been impossible to imagine Anwar pulling together rural Malays, ethnic Indians and Chinese, and Islamists into a coherent political bloc. Back then, Anwar was deputy prime minister in a de facto single-party state that espoused preferential treatment for ethnic Malays.
But where is my beloved Prime Minister Najib placed?
Aiyahhh… Not in ranking lo..
32. Anwar Ibrahimfor challenging the Muslim world to embrace democracy.
Opposition leader People's Justice Party Malaysia
Two decades ago, it would have been impossible to imagine Anwar pulling together rural Malays, ethnic Indians and Chinese, and Islamists into a coherent political bloc. Back then, Anwar was deputy prime minister in a de facto single-party state that espoused preferential treatment for ethnic Malays. It was a policy that Anwar had pushed from his days as a youth leader right up until 1997, when he denounced his patron, then-Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, for corruption. He would spend the next six years in solitary confinement on trumped-up charges for that political betrayal. And he would leave jail in 2004 with a bold message for change in a country now at the forefront of the struggle for democracy in the Muslim world. Today, Anwar's political career is blossoming, despite a new, politically motivated indictment. Abroad, he has become an outspoken advocate of religious tolerance.
He sat down with Foreign Policy to talk about his big ideas:
On Muslim countries and the West: You can't just erase a period of imperialism and colonialism. You can't erase the fault lines, the bad policies, the failed policies, the war in Iraq, and support for dictators. That to me is the reality. But what is the problem? When you … apportion the blame only to the West or the United States. They want to deflect from the issue of repression, endemic corruption, and destruction of the institutions of governance.
On his time in prison: I spent a lot of time reading. I decided to focus on the great works and the classics. Friends from around the world were sending books, but it takes months for [the prison] to vet them. There came a book on the Green Revolution at that time. The officer said, "Anything revolution -- out!" even though it was about agriculture. But the books kept coming. The officers were not even graduates, and [the books] were in English. They would say, "Anwar, out of 10 books, can you send back one?" So I would select something I had already read or something I was not interested in and say, "We should reject this."
On politics: Of course, you simplify the arguments [for politics], but the central thesis remains constant. People say, "Anwar, you are opportunistic. How can you talk about Islam and the Quran here, and then you talk about Shakespeare and quote Jefferson or Edmund Burke?" I say, it depends on the audience. You can't talk about Edmund Burke in some remote village in Afghanistan. Then you go to Kuala Lumpur and you quote T.S. Eliot. If I quote the Quran all the time to a group of lawyers, [they will think] I am a mullah from somewhere!
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2009/11/30/the_fp_top_100_global_thinkers?page=0,26
9 comments:
And where is Mahathir, the so called third world champion ?
TESTING..
I dont see too much evidence that Anwar is a great thinker. Sure he is a charismatic speaker with a timely rise to fame as disillusionment with UMNO increases. But if he is a dynamic thinker then his thoughts are very much drowned by the lack of thinking ability by his colleages.
PKR has become an uninspiring, backward looking organisation hell bent on self destruction as the component parties pursue their own selfish agendas
In that environment deep thinking becomes a liability
You don't see Anwar's work/thoughts/speech because they were not published. He was giving many talks at universities/conventions around the world but never get reported in the cheap skates medias here. That's why you don't know.
hahaha..Produk BN..then you should comment why Najib, Paklah or even Mahathir considered as a great thinker..
From Produk Pakatan Rakyat Malaysia!
when u think thru your arse (like saifool), you'll become product bn.
i dont care how people judge about DSAI, but i am certainly sure and have my (with more than 1000friends)undivided supports for him to be our coming Prime Minister of Rakyat Malaysia ! Anwar is a good man !
Anwar has been judged by an international organisation which is usually impartial in their assessment and judgment. So I think we should accord DSAI the credit. But off course the pro Umno fools will always have ways to discredit him. The sodomy conspiracy is to deprive DSAI from becoming the next PM.
Anwar has been judged by an international organisation which is usually impartial in their assessment and judgment. So I think we should accord DSAI the credit. But off course the pro Umno fools will always have ways to discredit him. The sodomy conspiracy is to deprive DSAI from becoming the next PM.
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