The Pope hasn’t really done anything yet, other than being elected. He’s made noises about combating poverty, but every Pope makes those noises. He’s really only distinguished himself by actually being nice to people.
The latter, certainly. What’s been the major international issue of the past year? Spying, with Syria a close second. I guess you could say that stuff was touched off by Wikileaks, and that Snowden was just piling on, but really he was the touchstone for a much bigger fire.
Well, yes, folks have talked about spying, but all the protests sounded to me like they’d just found out that there’s gambling going on in this joint. Were any specific international relationships specifically changed? If so, which relationships, and in what way were they changed?
You mean other than negotiations with China over hacking, negotiations with Russia over cooperative nuclear reduction, forcing us and our allies to change antiterrorism techniques, and taking chunks out of entire sectors of the tech market?
If Doonesbury had any say in the matter, Elizabeth Warren would probably be the winner.
I voted for Pope Francis, but I think Obama and Cruz will share it, although (a) Obama won last year, and (b) just what was Cruz’s role in the sequester and the government shutdown?
No, I don’t mean other than that, since I was asking a real question. I’ll look at your links and see if I agree with you that these constitute significant changes in international relationships.
has there ever been a selected in adjacent years?
El Papa followed by Miley Cyrus. Both steered the public’s conversation in different ways, but they were both talked about.
EXACTLY. How many movies have been released in the last 20 years that show the government (and sometimes specifically the NSA) as some all-knowing spy organization that reads/listens to EVERYTHING. Enemy of the State is on TNT every other weekend. You’d figure that every American has seen it at least six times since it came out and should have figured the government was already up to these kinds of shenanigans.
Hell, The Conversation was released in 1974.
I hear he likes to mingle with the hoi- polloi.
Okay. Following your first link, there’s precious few specifics about negotiations with China over hacking or negotiations with Russia over nuclear reduction–just a vague mention. These vague mentions are entirely consistent with my impression that people are waving their hands and making a lot of noise, but that nobody is really surprised by what’s happening and all the handwaving is pure point-scoring.
Your second link is behind a paywall, and your summary is vague enough that I’m not sure how to Google a different story.
Your third link isn’t about relationships between nations (i.e., international relationships–I’m not talking about long-distance marriages, nor about multinational coporations, but relationships among nations). Anyway, it’s all speculation, including CISCO’s CEO:
[emphasis added]
If you have some links that show that negotiations with China over hacking have been seriously impacted, or something similar re: Russia and nukes, I’d be interested in seeing that. I’ve not followed the story obsessively, but I have followed it, and nothing I’ve seen rises to the level of significant changes in international relationships.
My initial (incorrect) thought was Elon Musk. Snowden wins though.
Either Pope Francis or Edward Snowden would be reasonable choices. Some of these choices have got to be a joke (Miley Cyrus? :rolleyes:) Obama isn’t in the “joke” category, but you can’t deny that he’s a lame duck these days.
A perfect example of Time ignoring their criterion was for the 2001 POTY, By the standard of “biggest impact on the news, good or bad,” the clear & obvious choice would have been Osama bin Laden. But Time just didn’t have the guts to name him. They also couldn’t bring themselves to name the next-most-obvious choice, George W Bush. So, they named Rudy Giuliani, because he… err… give me a moment here…
…uh, he had the dubious fortune to be the mayor of New York during the 9/11 attacks? Yeah, that must be it.
I voted for Pope Francis . . . not because I agree with everything he’s said, but because he’s shaking things up in the Vatican.
Pardon my ignorance but I can’t remember if it was factually definitive (or at least close enough for Journalism) that it was Bin Laden by the time the issue was set to print? Or if it was ever factually definitive, other than de-facto reasoning due to Al Quaeda ties and following the money?
That Malala girl wasn’t in the poll, and there was no “Other” option, so I didn’t vote.
BO and MC are out.
Marble Cake Also The Game
I’m guessing Miley Cyrus, because physically unattractive as she is, in the immortal words of Frank Zappa: "With a tongue like a Cow, she can make you go ‘WOW!’ "
Good. That’s who I wanted it to be.