Putin Ranked World's Most Powerful Person by Forbes Third Year in a Row

[Almondandlime]

Russian President Vladimir Putin emerged as the world’s most powerful person for the third year running. Putin continues to prove he’s one of the few men in the world powerful enough to do what he wants –and get away with it. International sanctions set in place after he seized Crimea and waged war-by-proxy in Ukraine have kneecapped the Ruble and driven Russia into deepening recession, but haven’t hurt Putin one bit: In June his approval ratings reached an all-time high of 89%. In October, he bombed ISIS forces in Syria and then met face-to-face with President Assad, making the U.S and NATO look weak in the region, and helping rebuild Russian influence abroad.

 

Rest of the top 10:

2.) Angela Merkel

3.) Barack Obama

4.) Pope Francis

5.) Xi Jinping

6.) Bill Gates

7.) Janet Yellen

8.) David Cameron

9.) Narendra Modi

10.) Larry Page

 

http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidewalt/2015/11/04/the-worlds-most-powerful-people-2015/

http://www.forbes.com/powerful-people/list/

[exoticboom]

I understand ranking Putin at the top, though I wonder how Xi Jinping is really being limited by his colleagues in office.

 

Most western leaders have little de facto power themselves since they're at the mercy of advisers, parties, media, politicians, etc. One could argue that the leader of the European Union is more powerful than the leader of the United States, especially if EU's president was able to gather EU's army through dialogue (such as through convention).

 

One could also argue that some Middle Eastern leaders have significant power, such as the Saudi royal family.