Christiane Amanpour, France

Amanpour has been caught up in the drama of war since 1979 when the Iranian revolution forced her family to flee Tehran with few belongings. After graduating from the University of Rhode Island in 1983, Amanpour went to work as an assistant on the foreign desk at CNN in Atlanta. She subsequently became a correspondent in the network's Frankfurt bureau and rose to prominence for her coverage of the Persian Gulf War.

She is now chief international correspondent for CNN and a contributing correspondent for 60 Minutes on CBS. Her philosophy about journalism is, "To tell the truth. To be objective, but not neutral, especially in cases of genocide. To try to tell serious, important stories in an age of increasing trivia. This is a noble and valuable profession. Done right it is a positive force and valuable contribution to society."

Now stationed in London for CNN, Amanpour continues to be verbally threatened and receive death threats from paramilitaries and governments that oppose her work.