TIME MAGAZINE HAS released the shortlist for its 2015 Person of the Year.
Each year the publication gives the title to a person, group, idea or object that “for better or for worse … has done the most to influence the events of the year”.
Time’s editors will have the final say on who gets the nod this year, but the magazine’s readers are also encouraged to vote for who they think deserves the title.
Below are the contenders for 2015 in alphabetical order. We’ve also included a blurb by Time on why each is included:
Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi
As the leader of the so-called Islamic State, he has inspired followers to both fight in his self-declared caliphate of Iraq and Syria, and also stage attacks in countries like Tunisia and France.
Black Lives Matter activists
They have protested inequality towards African Americans, especially in their treatment by law enforcement.
Caitlyn Jenner
Her coming out as a transgender woman prompted widespread conversations about gender identity and issues of equality for the LGBT community.
Travis Kalanick
As CEO of Uber, he drove his car-hailing company to a nearly $70 billion (€65 billion) valuation, but also drew criticism about the downside of the sharing economy.
Angela Merkel
The German chancellor has been at the center of major news events this year, from economic strife in the Eurozone to Europe’s ongoing migrant crisis.
Vladimir Putin
The president of Russia has defied Western sanctions over his country’s military activity in Ukraine to play a critical but precarious role in the war on the so-called Islamic State.
Hassan Rouhani
The Iranian president is seeking to bring his country out of pariah status and repair its sanctions-crippled economy by pursuing a nuclear deal with the West.
Donald Trump
His populist rhetoric has made him frontrunner in the race for the Republican presidential candidacy and stirred debate about the party’s future.
Who do you think should be named Person of the Year? Someone on the shortlist – or someone who didn’t make the cut?
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