Christine Lagarde: Took over a tough job at the International Monetary Fund, under very difficult circumstances, and has helped keep Europe and the global economy from spiraling into disaster. Plus she's a classy lady who's smart, funny and commands your attention.
- [Paul J. Richards/AFP/Getty Images]

Joyce Banda: Malawi president who took over from Bingu wa Mutharika when he suddenly died while in office. She suspended the anti-gay law and restored relations with donor countries.
- [Amos Gumulira/AFP/Getty Images]

Psy: He was the first entertainer to make it to a billion views on YouTube.
- [Christopher Polk/AFP/Getty Images]

Amaia Egana (not pictured): A Spanish woman who jumped to her death as bailiffs came to evict her from her home - a symbol of the human suffering of the crisis.
- [PEDRO ARMESTRE/AFP/Getty Images]

Aung San Suu Kyi: The Lady's election to Myanmar's parliament in April this year elevated her status as resistance hero to a new platform of political relevance. Aung San Suu Kyi represents the best chance Myanmar's reforms have to stand the test of time.
- [Spencer Platt/Getty Images]

Malala Yousafzai: The young Pakistani activist came to worldwide prominence in the worst of ways, after suffering a life-threatening attack by the Taliban. But in her recovery, Malala embodied the same striking courage and clarity of purpose that made her a symbol of strength to girls — and women, men and boys — around the world.
- [ASIF HASSAN/AFP/Getty Images]

Julian Assange: Only one man, the founder of WikiLeaks, could spark such an unlikely feud between two such unassociated countries. Ecuador, Britain, and even Sweden was drawn into the fray. Holed up in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London since June, Assange gave the world one of 2012's hottest suspense thrillers, which called as much global attention to an ex-hacker's plight as it did to a feisty South American OPEC nation.
- [FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP/Getty Images]

Lal Bibi (not pictured): Lal Bibi was raped and beaten by members of the US-backed Afghanistan Local Police program in the northern province of Kunduz earlier this year. In this deeply conservative country rape victims are at risk of being killed by relatives in an attempt to salvage family honor. The ALP members also had significant power in their area and would normally be considered beyond the reach of the law. However, Bibi's family stood by her and she later testified against her attackers in a court in Kabul. Four men were subsequently sentenced to 16 years in prison.
- [AFP/AFP/Getty Images]

Hillary Clinton: Soon to be done with her tenure as the secretary of state, Clinton visited a record number of countries (more than 100) in the position. A once polarizing figure, Clinton has found popularity in her position as secretary of state, discharging her job with courage and grace.
- [Mark Wilson/AFP/Getty Images]

Chen Guangcheng: The blind legal activist from China successfully made a daring escape from under house arrest, seeking refuge at the US embassy in Beijing and causing a diplomatic furor between the US and China. His escape highlighted China's dismal human rights record and caused the Asian regional power severe embarrassment. After extended and tense negotiations between the Americans and Chinese, Chen was allowed to leave China to study abroad.
- [U.S. Embassy Beijing Press/Getty Images]

Nate Silver: Journalism has long suffered from an odd personality disorder, in which imprecision is embraced as "fairness." FiveThirtyEight blogger Nate Silver, more than anyone, has challenged this wishy-washiness by using science and statistics to make bold predictions about elections — and actually getting them right. In a world awash in flimsy facts and truthiness, Silver shows that journalists (and other knowledge workers) need to pay more attention to data and facts; his revolution promises to make denizens of the information age better informed.
- [Paul Zimmerman/AFP/Getty Images]

Boniface Mwangi (photo taken by him): A 29-year old Kenyan photographer who we featured in a story about political graffiti, who then went onto win the annual Prince Claus Prize and featured heavily in a TIME magazine cover story about 'Africa Rising.' He's a political activist trying to encourage Kenyans to kick out the bad leaders and vote in new ones as part of what he calls a peaceful "ballot revolution." With elections due in March, Kenya needs more young people like him.
- [BONIFACE MWANGI/AFP/Getty Images]