Business Insider recently published its ranking of the 50 most powerful people in the world— a select group whose decisions affect millions, shake industries, and change nations. Global heads of state featured prominently, with 14 presidents, prime ministers, and even royalty cracking the list.
To determine the ranking, we evaluated more than 100 of the most influential players in business, politics, entertainment, and tech, judging their influence by economic power, command, newsworthiness, and impact — a subjective measure that captures how important they are in their respective spheres (see our full methodology here).
US President Barack Obama headlines the list, followed by Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Here are the rest of the world's most powerful world leaders.
Editing by Alex Morrell with additional research by Andy Kiersz.
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14. Benjamin Netanyahu
Title: Israeli prime minister
Country: Israel
Age: 66
Reelected this year as the prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu recently compared the Middle East to "Game of Thrones." It isn't a game he's always played well — disputes over the Iran deal and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict have left US-Israeli relations at a crisis point. But Israel has remained relatively stable during a time of turmoil throughout the Middle East, and Netanyahu has dominated his country's politics like few Israeli leaders.
Overall, many say that Netanyahu has done a good job of boosting Israel's economy and putting the country at the forefront of technological and medical advances. Even so, the fallout over the Iran nuclear deal, and his strained relations with Washington, don't bode well for his legacy.
13. Park Geun-hye
Title: President of South Korea
Country: South Korea
Age: 63
South Korean President Park Geun-hye is the first female leader of her country — an especially impressive accomplishment considering South Korea has the highest level of gender inequality in the developed world. Her election generated the nation’s highest turnout rate in 15 years.
Park has the difficult but critical responsibility of diffusing threats from the ever combative North Korea. Last year, she tried to get her mercurial neighbors to the north to abandon their nuclear-weapons program by promising humanitarian aid and an investment in its weak industries, but to no avail. Park has flexed her muscles by testing missiles that can reach all of North Korea, but Kim Jong Un hasn't blinked, and hasn't quashed any nuclear ambitions.
12. Ali Khamenei
Title: Supreme Leader of Iran
Country: Iran
Age: 76
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has been the ultimate authority in Iran since 1989, is openly opposed to Western influence in both his country and the broader Middle East. A hardliner even within Iran's clerical regime, Khamenei has long championed the slogan "Death to America," and he has sought to position Tehran as both a geopolitical and ideological enemy of the US and Israel.
After more than 18 months of negotiations, Khamenei conditionally agreed to a landmark nuclear deal reached with six world powers this past July. The deal outlines Iran's promise to curb its nuclear program in exchange for the US and its partners lifting economic sanctions. The agreement is set to open Iran's economy to outside investment and has generally raised the prestige of Khamenei's government, which is quickly shaking its status as one of the world's pariah states.
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