Table of Contents

In this special issue we present our list of the 100 most powerful and influential people in the world--and we take a close look at how their words and deeds have an outsize effect on the rest of us

Leaders & Revolutionaries

GEORGE W. BUSH by Andrew Sullivan 54

ABU AL-ZARQAWI by Romesh Ratnesar 56

CONDOLEEZZA RICE by Michael Duffy 56

WU YI by Hannah Beech 56

VLADIMIR PUTIN by Paul Quinn-Judge 57

KIM JONG IL by Michael Elliott 58

RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN by Andrew Purvis 58

ATAL BIHARI VAJPAYEE by Alex Perry 59

KOFI ANNAN by Richard C. Holbrooke 59

BILL GATES by Warren E. Buffett 60

LUISA DIOGO by Mark Malloch Brown 60

JOHN KERRY by Joe Klein 61

TOSHIHIKO FUKUI by Jim Frederick 61

JOHN ABIZAID by Mark Thompson 62

ALI HUSAINI SISTANI by Hassan Fattah 62

OSAMA BIN LADEN by Richard A. Clarke 64

BILL AND HILLARY CLINTON by Karen Tumulty 64

LUIZ INACIO LULA DA SILVA by Tim Padgett 67

HU JINTAO by Matthew Forney 67

POPE JOHN PAUL II by Elie Wiesel 68

Builders & Titans

THE GOOGLE GUYS by Chris Taylor 70

WARREN BUFFETT by James J. Cramer 71

MICHAEL DELL by Cathy Booth Thomas 72

CARLY FIORINA by Marjorie Scardino 72

JOHN BROWNE by John Elkington 73

RUPERT MURDOCH by John Heilemann 73

LEE SCOTT by Bill Saporito 74

LINDSAY OWEN-JONES by Jennie James 74

MEG WHITMAN by Chris Taylor 74

STEVE JOBS by Josh Quittner 75

HOWARD SCHULTZ by Barbara Kiviat 76

THE AL-JAZEERA TEAM by Scott MacLeod 76

AZIM PREMJI by Aravind Adiga 76

DAVID NEELEMAN by Sally B. Donnelly 77

TOYOTA'S TOP TWO by Jim Frederick 77

DANIEL VASELLA by Unmesh Kher 80

BELINDA STRONACH by Stephen Handelman 80

BERNARD ARNAULT by Peter Gumbel 81

ABIGAIL JOHNSON by Daniel Kadlec 81

SEPP BLATTER by Bill Saporito 81

Artists & Entertainers

NICOLE KIDMAN by Belinda Luscombe 82

CHARLIE KAUFMAN by Joel Stein 83

FRANK GEHRY by Richard Lacayo 84

NORAH JONES by Christopher John Farley 84

HIDEO NAKATA by Richard Corliss 84

SIMON COWELL by James Poniewozik 85

SEAN PENN by Richard Schickel 88

JOHN GALLIANO by Kate Betts 88

JERRY BRUCKHEIMER by Desa Philadelphia 90

FERRAN ADRIA by James Graff 90

NICHOLAS HYTNER by Richard Zoglin 91

J.K. ROWLING by Nancy Gibbs 91

GUY LALIBERTE by Steven Frank 93

KEN KUTARAGI by Lev Grossman 93

AISHWARYA RAI by Alex Perry 94

OUTKAST by Josh Tyrangiel 95

MARK BURNETT by Donald Trump 95

KATIE COURIC by Richard Zoglin 98

BRUCE NAUMAN by Richard Lacayo 98

PETER JACKSON by Richard Corliss 100

Scientists & Thinkers

JULIE GERBERDING by Alice Park 102

ERIC LANDER by Philip Elmer-DeWitt 103

BERNARD LEWIS by Michael Elliott 103

SANDRA DAY O'CONNOR by Walter Isaacson 104

JOSCHKA FISCHER by Charles Grant 104

JONG-WOOK LEE by Alice Park 105

PAUL RIDKER by Alice Park 105

SAMANTHA POWER by Romesh Ratnesar 106

BJORN LOMBORG by Matt Ridley 106

THE KOREAN CLONERS by Jeffrey Kluger 109

JURGEN HABERMAS by Todd Gitlin 109

EDWARD WITTEN by Michael Lemonick 110

HERNANDO DE SOTO by Tim Padgett 110

NIALL FERGUSON by Michael Elliott 113

LINUS TORVALDS by Lawrence Lessig 113

STEVEN PINKER by Robert Wright 114

LOUISE ARBOUR by Paul Martin 114

TARIQ RAMADAN by Bruce Crumley 116

JEFFREY SACHS by Charles Alexander 116

JILL TARTER by Jeffrey Kluger 116

Hereos & Icons

SHIRIN EBADI by Scott MacLeod 118

LANCE ARMSTRONG by Bill Saporito 118

MEL GIBSON by Jerry B. Jenkins 120

EVAN WOLFSON by John Cloud 120

BERNARD KOUCHNER by Andre Glucksmann 121

ARTHUR AGATSTON by Joel Stein 121

ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER by Andrew Sullivan 123

OPRAH WINFREY by Sidney Poitier 123

TIGER WOODS by Sean Gregory 124

BONO by Bobby Shriver 124

DAVID BECKHAM by Marian Salzman 125

B.K.S. IYENGAR by Michael Richards 125

THE DALAI LAMA by Pico Iyer 126

PAULA RADCLIFFE by Sebastian Coe 126

JOHN BOGLE by Eliot Spitzer 128

QUEEN RANIA by Patty Stonesifer 128

BILL BELICHICK by Phil Simms 128

YAO MING by Brook Larmer 129

NELSON MANDELA by Richard Stengel 132

AUNG SAN SUU KYI by Bono 132

COVER: Photomontage by Arthur Hochstein MURDOCH: ALAN LEVENSON--CORBIS OUTLINE; BONO: SAM JONES--CORBIS OUTLINE; AGATSTON: BRIAN SMITH; NEELEMAN: ANDREW GARN; SUU KYI: EDDIE ADAMS--CORBIS OUTLINE; KIDMAN: JAMES WHITE--CORBIS OUTLINE; BECKHAM: DAMIEN MAGUIRE--ALLACTION/RETNA; IYENGAR: PABLO BARTHOLOMEW; JONES: CLAY PATRICK MCBRIDE--RETNA; OUTKAST: MATTHIAS CLAMER; VAJPAYEE: KAMAL KISHORE--REUTERS; ARMSTRONG: JONAS KARLSSON; KERRY: DAVID BURNETT--CONTACT PRESS; GALLIANO: ERIC RYAN--GETTY IMAGES; GIBSON: SAM JONES--CORBIS OUTLINE; KAUFMAN: SEAN GALLUP--GETTY IMAGES; MANDELA: PETER TURNLEY--CORBIS; BUSH: BROOKS KRAFT; ANNAN: WILLIAM COUPON--CORBIS OUTLINE; NAKATA: PHILIPP HOHNDORF--STARFACE/RETNA; SISTANI: HO; ABIZAID: AFP--GETTY IMAGES; ADRIA: RAPHO; OPRAH: FRAZER HARRISON--GETTY IMAGES; BURNETT: STEPHEN CHERNIN--GETTY IMAGES; EBADI: BEHROUZ MEHRI--AFP/GETTY IMAGES; PUTIN: MAXIM MARMUR--AFP/GETTY IMAGES; GOOGLE GUYS: FERGUS GREER--ICON INT.; WOODS: STEPHEN DUNN--GETTY IMAGES, STRONACH: ED GAJDEL; SCHWARZENEGGER: SAM JONES--CORBIS OUTLINE

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE

NATION

THE INTEL GAP With 9/11 failings exposed, can the FBI and CIA be fixed? 26

CLINTON TESTIFIES: What he did--and didn't--do about bin Laden 28

VIEWPOINT: Whistle-blower Coleen Rowley offers an FBI remedy 33

WORLD

PLAN B FOR IRAQ Bush backs a U.N. effort to hand over power. But that may not stop the violence 34

AHMAD CHALABI: What's next? 36

BUSINESS

TEMP NATION Skilled workers join the ranks 40

ENVIRONMENT

SUPERFAILURE Why a Superfund cleanup left a toxic mess in Oklahoma 42

SOCIETY

LEARNING TO TODDLE: Museums draw ever younger crowds 49

ARTS

BOOK SMARTS Rem Koolhaas puts theory to work in a stunning library 136

TINA FEY: SNL's caustic-but-nice comic takes on Mean Girls 139

DYSPEPTIC DUO: Two satiric novels of suburban and cubicle life 140

YOUR TIME

HEALTH: Now anticholesterol drugs may protect eyesight too 147 MONEY: Making inflation pay 148 TECH: No-hassle photo shares 151

PEOPLE: The Donald makes his pick; the Stamoses separate 153 ESSAY: Charles Krauthammer on why Bush shouldn't say sorry 154

TIME ONLINE EDITION YOUR PICKS? Visit TIME Online and tell us whom you would select as the most influential people in the world today. Also, review the editors' selections for the first TIME 100 list, which showcased the leading lights of the 20th century. Click on time.com/100

CNN The TV counterpart to this week's issue is CNN Presents: TIME 100, hosted by Aaron Brown and airing Saturday, April 24, at 6 a.m., 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. (ET). This week CNN and CNN Headline News will air segments of the special during regularly scheduled programming.

ON TELEVISION Each week TIME writers and correspondents appear on PBS with Charlie Rose to discuss the magazine's current issue, breaking news and other important developments. Check out charlierose.com for up-to-date schedules and other program information.