BAN KI-MOON

AGE: 62
OCCUPATION: Secretary-General of the United Nations
NUMBER OF TIME COVERS: 0
PREVIOUS APPEARANCES ON THE TIME 100: 0

PRO: He's the chief, so he'll have at least a say in how the world handles everything from global warming to genocide in Darfur to Iran's nuclear ambitions. Since taking over in January, he has most notably cleaned up his own house first -- tackling the system of patronage jobs that has long made the leadership at U.N's HQ a flashpoint of controversy.

CON: But how much influence has any Secretary-General ever had over the resolutions of the Security Council, or for that matter, the unwieldy General Assembly? And repercussions from the U.S. invasion of Iraq, not to mention the U.N.'s ineffectual handling of the Darfur crisis, continue to undermine the authority of his institution.