Who is more powerful, Russian
President Vladimir Putin, or the U.S.’s Barack Obama?
According to Forbes “World’s Most Powerful People”
list, the gremlin in the Kremlin takes the cake.
The publication explains that “no one would call Vladimir Putin
a good guy.” In fact, Forbes calls him an “autocrat,” but
explains that “power isn’t pretty.” The Russian leader earned his
chops for annexing Crimea, waging in Ukraine a bloody, brutal war
that no other power has the will to stop, and making a $70 billion
gas pipeline deal with China. This does, however,
overlook the fact that Russia’s economy is rapidly approaching
recession levels and the nation’s currency keeps dropping to record
low values.
Forbes is less generous in
its estimation of Obama:
Heading into the second half of his second term, Obama seems
stymied both by the West African Ebola breakout and a blood-thirsty
militia named ISIS, which threaten to undo all the gains of a
9-year war in Iraq that cost the lives of 4,500 Americans. At home,
racially charged images of unrest in Ferguson, Missouri mock his
2008 message of “Change.” On the plus side, unemployment is at its
lowest level since the Great Recession and the markets
continue test new highs. One word sums up his second place finish:
caution. He has the power but has been too cautious to fully
exercise it.
The paper explains their methodology: “First, we ask whether the
candidate has power over lots of people,” which can mean anything
from major religious leaders like Pope Francis to big company CEOs
like Doug McMillan of Wal-Mart; “Next we assess the financial
resources controlled by each person”; “Then we determine if the
candidate is powerful in multiple spheres”; and whether “candidates
actively use their power.”
A few other political-type Americans made the cut. Federal
Reserve Chair Janet Yellen took the sixth spot, former President
Bill Clinton took 44th (Hillary is not on the list, but
Forbes gives her a shout-out: “There is no denying that
wife Hillary is also a political force to be reckoned with”), Chief
Justice John Roberts got the 65th.
One interesting new addition is a man who has sent numerous
threats to the U.S. and Russia. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of
the Islamic State, comes in spot #54.
A major relief is that the list has plenty who aren’t
primarily in politics. Bill Gates of Microsoft, Sergey Brin and
Larry of Google, Jeff Bezos of Amazon, and Tim Cook of Apple all
made the list. While politicians squabble through their zero-sum
game, these technologists provide goods and services that impact
and improve the daily lives of billions of people.
Read Reason coverage of the
Cold War revival between Obama and Putin. Check out this piece
of art that portrays
the latter spanking the former.
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