Which ideas have most shaped the world in 2010? Foreign Policy magazine has made its pitch before the year is out - publishing an annual list of the world’s top 100 thinkers. As a first draft of the history of thought, the list does an impressive job of reflecting the rise of emerging markets.
The Top 100’s strength is to cover a range of challenges facing poor countries, providing an idea for almost every ill. Its weakness is to downplay the factor that has done most to change perceptions of those same countries - economic lift-off.
The list nods to the importance of armed conflict and natural resources (Paul Collier, No. 29), good governance (Mo Ibrahim, No. 50), public health (Kamal Kashar, No. 84), and poverty (Sabina Alkire, No. 66).