The list is about which person/people/group/item has made the biggest IMPACT on the world.
It's not a popularity contest, nor an approval/condemnation of anyone. It is simply a measurement of who impacted the world the most that year.
In 2001, most would agree there was one (evil) person that impacted history the most - Bin Laden. However, Walmart promised they woudln't stock TIME anymore if they used him. Too painful. So they used Rudy instead. No doubt Rudy had a positive impact in 2001, but WORLDWIDE, for our PLANET, it was bin laden... a series of wars followed. Rudy was responding domestically to an event that bin laden had delivered, that affected people globally. Most people overseas never heard of Rudy, and this is a GLOBAL award.
I actually WOULD argue that OBAMA should win in 2013, and not because he did good, but because he did bad. SYRIA on a lie? NSA wiretapping? Job Disapproval Reaches a Career High while he's going full neocon? Has ANYONE had a bigger impact on the world (Reminder: not good or bad, just impact) than Obama?
Syria's leader, yeah that's big. I'd bet on Snowden - setting quite a trend - winning it.
Stalin, Hitler, Araft... these men had the biggest impact on history those years, even if it was for very big and evil things. It's not a positive recognition. It's a measurement on what person did the most to affect planet earth.
