Russian President Putin named Time magazine's person of the year  Russian President Vladimir Putin was named Time magazine's "Person of the Year" on December 19th,2007for strengthening stability  that made Russia a world power again.  The magazine recognized Putin's "extraordinary feat of leadership in taking a country that was in a mess and bringing it stability," said Richard Stengel, Time's managing editor.  The magazine noted that "Person of the Year" is not an honor or an endorsement but a recognition of leadership that shapes the world.  Putin, who is 56 years old, is very popular in Russia, making a great effort to cause economy to come to life on revenue from oil and natural gas.  Putin recently supported vice-PM Dmitry Medvedev's presidential bid, and said he would accept Medvedev's offer to serve as prime minister if Medvedev is elected March2.  The Kremlin said Wednesday the Time reconnition was seen there as an _ of Putin's role in helpingprefix = st1 /Russiapull out of its social and economic troubles in the 1990s.  Others considered for Person of the Year included Nobel Prize-winner Al Gore and author J.K. Rowling.  This year's choice was a return to the magazine's tradition of picking an individual rather than last year's choice of "You", which refers to anyone creating or using content on the World Wide Web.  Putin is the fifth Russian(or Soviet) leader to be named Person of the Year: Gorbachev, Andropov, Khrushchev and Stalin, who was named twice. How did Putin try to make Russiaa world power again?
By performing arms race By making war By strengthening stability By getting foreign help