PERSON OF THE YEAR

Person of the Year: Mark Zuckerberg (Cover)

For connecting more than half a billion people and mapping the social relations among them; for creating a new system of exchanging information; and for changing how we all live our lives, Mark Elliot Zuckerberg is TIME's 2010 Person of the Year

Runner-Up: The Tea Party (Person of the Year / The Short List)

The grass-roots uprising that restored the GOP was fueled by anger at the ruling Democrats. But it won't be easy to hold together

Runner-Up: Hamid Karzai (Person of the Year / The Short List)

In 2010 the feckless Afghan President came to symbolize a growing frustration with the long war in his country

Runner-Up: Julian Assange (Person of the Year / The Short List)

Whistle-blower or spy? His belief in the virtues of radical transparency has turned the diplomatic world upside down

Runner-Up: The Chilean Miners (Person of the Year / The Short List)

Trapped 2,300 ft. below the earth's surface for almost three months, these 33 men defied the odds and inspired the world

Fond Farewells

Remembering those who left us in 2010: Bill Clinton on Robert Byrd, Warren Beatty on Arthur Penn, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on John Wooden

LETTERS

POSTCARD FROM

The Lady: Aung San Suu Kyi's Fight for Freedom

Shot partly in secret, French director Luc Besson's new film follows Aung San Suu Kyi's fight for freedom. Behind the scenes of a tribute to Burma's democracy icon Shot partly in secret, French director Luc Besson's new film follows Aung San Suu Kyi's fight for freedom. Behind the scenes of a tribute to Burma's democracy icon

Q&A: Luc Besson (Interview)

Film director Luc Besson on Aung San Suu Kyi's struggle, life imitating art, and growing up in the water

Q&A: Michelle Yeoh (Interview)

Over a lunch of pomelo salad and coconut juice at Bangkok's Oriental Hotel, Yeoh spoke with Andrew Marshall about the pressure of playing a living icon — and who would win in a fight

GLOBAL ADVISER