Age: 54
Occupation: High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy
Previous TIME 100 Appearances: 0
Last November behind-the-scenes disagreements among E.U. member states catapulted Ashton, a compromise choice, into a newly created and grandly titled job envisaged as a kind of foreign minister for Europe. She told TIME her priority would be "to lead the development of European foreign policy ideas," but amid continued sniping from critics within the E.U., her most urgent task remains the consolidation of her potentially substantial powers.