Foreign Policy and Prospect magazines are trying to determine who are the top public intellectuals in the world. And they want your help in the process. Describing the contest they say:

"They are some of the world’s most introspective philosophers and rabble-rousing clerics. A few write searing works of fiction and uncover the mysteries of the human mind. Others are at the forefront of modern finance, politics, and human rights. In the second Foreign Policy/Prospect list of top public intellectuals, we reveal the thinkers who are shaping the tenor of our time."

Here they have listed and described the 100 finalists. The names include prominent parts of the U.S. foreign policy establishment, such as Samuel Huntington, Robert Kagan, Thomas Friedman, David Petraeus, Francis Fukuyama, Samantha Power, Fareed Zakaria, and more.

The site offers readers the chance to vote for their five favorites. I chose Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi of Iran, Pulitzer Prize winner Samantha Power of the United States, The Post-American World author Fareed Zakaria of the United States, Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammed Yunus of Bangladesh, and economist Jeffrey Sachs of the United States.

Voting ends on May 15.