NEW YORK — Russian President Vladimir Putin was named Time magazine’s “Person of the Year” on Wednesday for imposing stability that restored Russia as a world power.
The magazine recognized Putin’s “extraordinary feat of leadership in taking a country that was in chaos and bringing it stability,” said Richard Stengel, Time’s managing editor. The magazine noted that “Person of the Year” is not an honor or endorsement but a recognition of leadership that shapes the world.
“He’s the new czar of Russia, and he’s dangerous in the sense that he doesn’t care about civil liberties, he doesn’t care about free speech,” Stengel said. But in prizing stability over freedom, he has made Russia powerful again and beholden to no nation, the magazine said.
Others considered by Time included Nobel Prize-winner Al Gore and author J.K. Rowling.
The Associated Press
