The TIME magazine has published a list, of the 100 most influential people in the world for the year 2004, in its issue dated 26 April.
In the preamble it states that Bernard Boucher and Samantha Power have challenged us to understand that a nation's sovereignty does not give it the right to behave abominably inside its borders.
Except for Kim Jong Li, the list does not include a single military dictator.
There are only 20 odd names chosen from Asia and Africa. The list no doubt is indicative of American perspective and vision of the world in the post 9-11 scenario.
In the opinion of TIME magazine, not a single man from Pakistan meets the requirements for inclusion in this list, in spite of tall claims by our government of the special relationship that exists between the so called strategic partners.
At the end of the day, only those who are respected within their spheres of influence, or have won the hearts and minds of their own people have a role to play.
The rest are all pawns, who have been paid their price for services rendered to USA.
Those who are chosen from Asia and Africa are:- Nelson Mandela, Kofi Annan, Dalai Lama, Atal B Vajpayee, Tayyip Erdogan, Luisa Diogo, Ali Husaini Sistani, Al- Jazeera team, Aung San Suu Kyi, Queen Rania, Azim Premji, Osama bin Laden, Abual Zarqawi, Wuyi, Toshihiki Fukui, Hideo Nakata, Ken Kutaragi, Aishwarya Rai, Jong Wook, Shirine Badi, Dr Shin Yong Moon & Woo Suk.