Who are the world's most influential political leaders

In 2015, The Guardian published an article entitled The world’s most powerful people in 2015. A more accurate title would have been The world’s most powerful people in 2015 according to The Guardian. This year, Time magazine published an article entitled World’s Most Powerful People, and the editors at Time magazine should probably know better than to copycat the contents of other people’s articles without doing a little bit of research themselves to determine whether or not the same list should appear in multiple publications simultaneously.

Donald Trump

After a divisive first year in office, U.S. President Donald Trump has climbed to 9th place on Forbes' World's Most Powerful People list for 2018. Trump has appeared on every Forbes World’s Billionaires list since its inception, and he made history again in 2018 by becoming the first billionaire to hold that office. The president is one of only four people whose net worth increased from last year (Forbes estimates his wealth at $3.1 billion). Despite his controversial policies and leadership style, Trump was re-elected in November with 304 electoral votes—more than any other president in U.S.

Theresa May

Britain’s new prime minister is taking over from David Cameron, who resigned after U.K. voters chose to leave the European Union. May is known for her tough approach to immigration and security issues—she served as home secretary before she became prime minister. She also warned that citizens of nowhere (those who don’t identify with their country) would find no place in her Britain when she took office earlier in July 2016. (Source: Al Jazeera)

Xi Jinping

Chinese president Xi Jinping is now considered to be one of China’s top decision makers, and thus a major factor in global politics. As such, The Economist ranked him seventh among their list of The World’s Most Influential Political Leaders.

Vladimir Putin

In terms of both clout and controversy, Putin is in a class by himself. The Russian leader was also ranked as one of Time’s 10 Worst People of 2014 thanks to his country’s recent annexation of Crimea and ongoing strife in eastern Ukraine. But despite international criticism, Putin has found success in other areas. Russia is now on track to surpass Saudi Arabia as a top oil producer, and Russia has reasserted itself on the global stage with its bold actions in Ukraine.

Pope Francis

Pope Francis, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Buenos Aires, Argentina, is one of several former Latin American bishops to have been tapped by Rome for high office. Since becoming pope in 2013, he has become well-known for his humility and accessibility—for example, choosing to live in a modest Vatican guesthouse rather than reside at lavish pontifical residences. The leader of 1.2 billion Catholics worldwide is considered a progressive on many issues but holds conservative views on divorce.

Angela Merkel

The German Chancellor has topped Forbes’ list of The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women for nine consecutive years and remains a formidable powerbroker. In 2015, Merkel successfully secured a fourth term as Germany’s leader with some 60% of votes cast. This year she and French President François Hollande will try to find common ground on how to manage Europe’s continuing refugee crisis in face of growing nationalist movements across Europe.