Time Person of the Year: Vladimir Putin

I'm watching MSNBC and just heard, Richard Stengel, Managing Editor of Time, announce Putin as their Person of the Year. The runner-up was Al Gore.

Stengel mentioned that Putin has brought Russia back to world power prominence: "He is a strong man." He also mentioned the deaths of 13 journalists in Russia. The magazine interviewed Putin in the issue coming out.

This is Time says on their site:

In a year when Al Gore won the Nobel Peace Prize and green became the new red, white and blue; when the combat in Iraq showed signs of cooling but Baghdad's politicians showed no signs of statesmanship; when China, the rising superpower, juggled its pride in hosting next summer's Olympic Games with its embarrassment at shipping toxic toys around the world; and when J.K. Rowling set millions of minds and hearts on fire with the final volume of her 17-year saga—one nation that had fallen off our mental map, led by one steely and determined man, emerged as a critical linchpin of the 21st century.