The Top 100 Public Intellectuals

[Stan]

Foreign Policy, May/June 2008

They are some of the world’s most introspective philosophers and rabble-rousing clerics. A few write searing works of fiction and uncover the mysteries of the human mind. Others are at the forefront of modern finance, politics, and human rights. In the second Foreign Policy/Prospect list of top public intellectuals, we reveal the thinkers who are shaping the tenor of our time.

We chose the first 100 (click here for our criteria). Now, it’s your chance to choose who should receive top honors by voting for the world’s top five public intellectuals. The list of the Top 20 Public Intellectuals—based on your votes—will be published in our July/August issue.

Here’s how to vote:

1. Choose your five top intellectuals in the ballot below by clicking on an individual’s name. (If you are unfamiliar with any of our picks, just check out their bios.) To undo a pick, simply click the box again.
2. Write in a candidate. Who should we have included, but did not? Click the “Write in a candidate” option at the bottom of the ballot, and let us know who we missed.
3. Submit your votes.

You may only vote once. Voting closes May 15.

Criteria: Although the men and women on this list are some of the world’s most sophisticated thinkers, the criteria to make the list could not be more simple. Candidates must be living and still active in public life. They must have shown distinction in their particular field as well as an ability to influence wider debate, often far beyond the borders of their own country.

[Umar Al-Mokhtār]

I was 101st again!

[SteveMetz]

I'm writing in Stephen Colbert.

[Umar Al-Mokhtār]

to start wearing Depends when on here.

However, I find great merit in Dr Metz's choice.

[Vic Bout]

how do ya think they seperate "activists" from "leaders"?

[Umar Al-Mokhtār]

first you put them all in a field.

Then you do a gunrun with an Apache.

Anyone that runs, is an Activist. Anyone that stands still, is a well-disciplined Activist! Thus a leader.

[Stan]

You need not pick all five from the list.

Assuming you couldn't find all your favorite candidates within (or for that matter even know more than 2 of them), vote for 2 or 3 and click onto the next prompt.

With that, type in your remaining potential candidates.

My remaining three candidates were....

Doctors....

Marc W.D. Tyrrell
Montgomery McFate
Steven Metz

Hey, the way I figure, we're about 3,000 strong and a vote is a vote.

[bourbon]

From the FP list I voted for:
Fethullah Gulen
Steven Pinker
Muhammad Yunas
Malcolm Gladwell
William Easterly

Write in:
David Kilcullen
Ron Paul

[Tom Odom]

And the whole exercise is indicative of why State has difficulty relating to other organizations. The "Foreign Policy" elitist school is clearly at work here. There is not one military or defense figure from any country listed in the 100. There is not a single leader in the business world listed among the "intellectuals". Al Gore is the single example of a US poltical "intellectual"? Samantha Power is a world class intellectual?

Steven Colbert might be too high speed

Go with Alfred E. Neuman

[Ken White]

You are too kind.

Really.

[mmx1]

And the whole exercise is indicative of why State has difficulty relating to other organizations. The "Foreign Policy" elitist school is clearly at work here. There is not one military or defense figure from any country listed in the 100. There is not a single leader in the business world listed among the "intellectuals". Al Gore is the single example of a US poltical "intellectual"? Samantha Power is a world class intellectual?

Steven Colbert might be too high speed

Go with Alfred E. Neuman

Ah, Gen. Petraeus is on there.

[wm]

And the whole exercise is indicative of why State has difficulty relating to other organizations. The "Foreign Policy" elitist school is clearly at work here. There is not one military or defense figure from any country listed in the 100. There is not a single leader in the business world listed among the "intellectuals". Al Gore is the single example of a US poltical "intellectual"? Samantha Power is a world class intellectual?

Steven Colbert might be too high speed

Go with Alfred E. Neuman

Tom,
Did you miss Dave Petraeus? I suspect the lack of business folks has to do with the nature of the list--it is "public" figures--that is folks who are paid by the public, not-for profit sector. Larry Ellison and Jack Welsh are private sector, for-profit kind of folks. Nonetheless, your point is well taken. I don't dispute that circumscribing the list to "public" figures is a receipe for disaster

[J Wolfsberger]

Al Gore is the single example of a US poltical "intellectual"?

I would have used "Al Gore" and "intellectual" in the same sentence in a dramatically different way.

[SteveMetz]

Tom,
Did you miss Dave Petraeus? I suspect the lack of business folks has to do with the nature of the list--it is "public" figures--that is folks who are paid by the public, not-for profit sector. Larry Ellison and Jack Welsh are private sector, for-profit kind of folks. Nonetheless, your point is well taken. I don't dispute that circumscribing the list to "public" figures is a receipe for disaster

Yea, but a "public intellectual" is someone who shapes the way people think, not just a smart person. I might have added Charles Krauthammer, Andrew Sullivan, Bill Kristol, and Eliot Cohen. I would not have included Niall Ferguson. Love his books, but don't think he's shaped public thinking all that much.

[wm]

Agree with Steve and JW's points (particularly that about the former Senator from Tennessee). After reading a lot of the bios, it seems that the principle crierion for selection was "been published in FP" Sort of reminds me of the Groucho Marx line about not wanting to belong to any club that would have him as a member.

[Tom Odom]

and while that lessens some what what I had to say it does not change my intended message....the whole exercise reeks of disdain for those who actually do versus those who observe

I like Steve M's description of public intellectual in shaping thought and WM I think you probably have it exactly correct...said exercise is a marketing tool for FP

My apologies to GEN P

Tom

[bourbon]

The Winners: The World’s Top 20 Public Intellectuals

What do SWC members with experience in the Turkic world think about Gulen?

I'm writing in Stephen Colbert.

Top Write In Candidate: STEPHEN COLBERT, Television host, satirist • United States

[William F. Owen]

And the whole exercise is indicative of why State has difficulty relating to other organizations. The "Foreign Policy" elitist school is clearly at work here. There is not one military or defense figure from any country listed in the 100. There is not a single leader in the business world listed among the "intellectuals". Al Gore is the single example of a US poltical "intellectual"? Samantha Power is a world class intellectual?

I find myself in total agreement. Noam Chomsky!! Give me a "stag on till Summer" break!

It's a list of mostly media/writers entertainers, that seems to value "credentials" over "thought."

[selil]

Popularity contest.. Did I miss Hawkings?

[Gringo Malandro]

I am suffering from Thomas Friedman fatigue. I should probably wait until I read Beirut to Jerusalem to weigh in. But everything else I have read from him is either utter garbage or an articulate restatement of the obvious. The world may be hot and crowded, but it is certainly not flat just because Hamas can post videos on Youtube or Facebook.