“The Russian president influences almost every corner of the planet. At home, in Syria and in the US presidential elections, Putin continues to achieve what he wants,” the publication writes.
The Russian factor became central to American election discussions after the Democratic Party, which nominated Hillary Clinton as its presidential candidate, admitted that its servers had been hacked by anonymous hackers. A short time later, a number of American intelligence agencies linked the cyberattack to Russia and, in particular, the Kremlin.
Leaks from confidential Democratic correspondence damaged the image of Democrats and became one of the factors that brought down Clinton's ratings and led to the victory of Republican Donald Trump. Trump himself, already the elected president of the United States, does not hide the fact that he is going to establish contact with Vladimir Putin and again consider the issue of annexing Crimea to Russia.
Recently, Trump-connected financier Carter Page visited Moscow and also publicly discussed the Crimean problem in a conciliatory manner.
“With such a likely ally as Donald Trump in the White House, Putin’s power could become limitless in the future.” long years", writes Forbes.
General Director of the Agency for Political and Economic Communications "APEC" Dmitry Orlov believes that coverage of the topic of Putin's influence on American elections helped his authority regardless of how real that influence was. “The fact that this was discussed strengthened his image positioning,” the interlocutor of Gazeta.Ru is sure.
Orlov also notes Russia’s role in politics in the Middle East, in particular in the Syrian campaign. “Putin, having, in general, few resources and playing against several opponents, managed to win,” he believes.
Political scientist Konstantin Kalachev was not surprised by this situation. “Putin is one of the few world leaders who is not constrained by anything and can freely form his own agenda,” said Gazeta.Ru’s interlocutor. “If German Chancellor Angela Merkel governs a country that is stronger than Russia economically, and Barack Obama leads the United States, a country that is more powerful in military potential, then Putin has great authority in his own right.”
On December 15, Putin arrives in Japan. The main negotiations here will revolve around the territorial dispute over the Kuril Islands. U Russian President there is a chance to solve this problem, due to which Russia and Japan have been unable to sign a peace treaty since World War II.
Who's behind Putin
Second place on the Forbes list was given to billionaire and US President Donald Trump for his direct and aggressive challenge to the globalist trends that America began to follow during the Obama presidency. Last year, the eccentric businessman took only 72nd place.
Third most influential person is at the same time the most influential woman in the world. This is Angela Merkel, “Chancellor of Germany and the main pillar of the European Union,” as Forbes put it. Fourth place went to Chinese President Xi Jinping, fifth place went to Pope Francis.
British Prime Minister Theresa May is in 13th place, French President Francois Hollande is in 23rd, and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is in 37th.
Photo report: The most influential people in the world
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58th place went to Russian businessman Alisher Usmanov, owner of the Metalloinvest company.
Usmanov is also the richest businessman in Russia after Leonid Mikhelson and Mikhail Fridman.
The current US President Barack Obama ranks only 48th on this list. “Obama leaves office at a time of global upheaval; a wave of populism caused political instability in Europe, the beginning of the crisis was marked by Brexit in June 2016,” Forbes writes in a commentary.
Political scientist Vyacheslav Smirnov believes that Putin topped the ratings at a good time. “Everything is logical. Ex-president USA Barack Obama is no longer the most influential, and his successor Donald Trump is not yet influential,” the interlocutor of Gazeta.Ru is sure.
However, the expert clarifies that this does not mean that the future American leader will necessarily be ahead of Putin in the future, it’s just that now the Russian president has no alternative for the Forbes team that compiled the rating.
According to Smirnov, the influence of heads of state can be compared to the influence of heads of companies. It is clear that the larger and more influential the company, the heavier the leader. But another question is how personally influential he still is and determines the entire policy of his company.
“In America, after all, the president is a product of the system. He expresses not his own opinion, but the opinion of opposing groups. But in Russia, on the contrary, everyone supports the opinion of a single ruler,” comments Smirnov.
The annual ranking of the American most authoritative financial and economic magazine Forbes identified 74 people whose actions have an impact on the whole world. Putin once again consolidated his leadership, topping the ranking of the most influential people in the world. Let us remind you that the President of the Russian Federation has been at the top of the list for 4 years. To compile the list, the magazine's editorial board analyzed hundreds of candidates around the world and identified the world leaders based on four criteria.
TOP 5 most influential people in the world
1. Vladimir Putin
According to the editors, Putin is one of the few world figures who does what he wants and achieves his goal. Russia, Syria, even the American presidential elections - the Russian leader does not go unnoticed, and his actions, one way or another, influence the course of events. Putin's ratings are reaching an all-time high, annually restoring Russian influence abroad.
2. Donald Trump
The elected President of the United States and the first billionaire leader, who in a short period managed to exert a strong influence on the political landscape of America. Immunity to scandals and strong support from Congress along with its own financial resources, amounting to billions of dollars, allowed Trump to take second place in the ranking.
3. Angela Merkel
One of six high-ranking and influential women in the world on the list, taking an honorable third place. Angela Merkel is the Chancellor of Germany and the most powerful pillar of the European Union. She led her country to the leadership of the EU, and she herself became the most influential female politician in the world.
4. Xi Jinping
The Chinese statesman and politician, while world states are busy with internal political problems, is actively developing a project to spread China’s influence to every corner of the planet.
The spiritual leader of more than a billion Catholics and active peaceful political activist rounds out the top five world leaders. 
Changes in the ranking compared to 2015
Russian representative and billionaire Alisher Usmanov became a participant in the rating, managing to climb to 58th place. The last year of Barack Obama's presidency, as predicted, weakened his influence and moved him to 48th place in the ranking. According to one of the criteria - the candidate's own financial flows, which are managed by the candidate - the richest man in the world, Bill Gates, took 7th place. The king was considered in the same direction Saudi Arabia Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, who owns 20% of the world's oil reserves. He was placed in 16th place. The new ranking includes 11 newcomers who were not previously included in the list. Theresa May, the British Prime Minister, is one of them, coming in 13th place. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who previously appeared on the 2011 list, also joined the newcomers. Today it ranks 56th. Secretary General UN Antonio Guterres was included in the list again after 7 years, awarded 36th place. 
Of the influential women, 6th place was awarded to Janet Yellen, Chairman of the Board of Governors of the US Federal Reserve, and 25th place to Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde. One of the youngest participants in the ranking, in 10th place, was 32-year-old Mark Zuckerberg, developer and founder social network Facebook. 43rd place was taken by the supreme leader of the DPRK, Kim Jong-un (33 years old). Forbes says the "influential" ranking is a subjective list of the world's elite. These are strong individuals who truly “rule the world,” but their positions may be weakened by the arrival of more powerful and influential candidates.
The rating of presidents is, of course, a very subjective list, which is compiled by sociologists and political scientists in almost every large country. But still, it reflects the main trends in such a volatile environment. Disputes often arise on the basis of which such a rating should be compiled. American presidents, for example, are always judged by poll results. One of the objective criteria is the level wages. The list presented to you estimates the income of heads of state in 2016.
Francois Hollande
Now the ex-leader of France found himself in 8th place in the ranking of presidents at the end of last year. He headed one of the largest European countries for 5 years, since 2012.
During his reign, he did a lot to remain in the memory of the people. For example, he approved the bill on same-sex marriage. In addition, he took another step demonstrating European tolerance: he allowed same-sex partners to adopt children. It is worth noting that expanding the rights of sexual minorities was one of the main points of the election program of Hollande and his party supporters. In this they kept their word.
True, not all French agreed with this policy. Due to legalization same-sex marriage Numerous protest rallies and demonstrations took place across the country. This was especially disliked by the right-wing parties that found themselves in opposition and the Catholic Church.
In the ranking of presidents, the position of the head of France is usually much lower, but by the end of his term Hollande had become an extremely unpopular politician in his homeland. His trust rating has fallen to a record 12%, making him one of the most unpopular French presidents ever. In addition, last year parliament threatened him with impeachment, suspecting him of revealing state secrets.
Hollande's salary is $194,000.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan
The Turkish leader has led the country since 2014. The election he won was the first direct democratic vote in this country. 2016 was not an easy year for Erdogan. In the summer, part of the military elite tried to carry out a coup d'etat, which was suppressed. After this, Turkey began to tighten laws against the opposition and strengthen presidential power, which was assessed negatively by many partner countries.
The coup attempt was very bloody. The mutiny killed 238 people. Erdogan himself barely escaped capture. He left the hotel shortly before it was stormed.
Erdogan seeks to strengthen his power on all fronts. So, in this moment 26,000 people have been accused of involvement in the coup. Many of them are in prison, the rest have lost their jobs, as a rule, they are law enforcement officers.
At the moment, the country has launched a campaign to return the death penalty to the criminal code.
The president's salary is $197,000.
Shinzo Abe
His annual income is $203,000. He has led the country since 2006. In this post, Abe will be remembered as a politician who began to pursue a unique economic policy. He managed to revive the economy, which had been stricken by stagnation and deflation for the previous two decades.
One of the methods was the artificial devaluation of the yen by doubling the money supply. This method is not new; leaders of other countries have used it many times. On the one hand, it can be very effective, on the other, it can provoke international currency wars, which is what critics of the Japanese prime minister fear.
Theresa May
British Prime Minister Theresa May closes the top five. She receives $215,000.
For her, 2016 was also a defining year in many ways. A national referendum was held in Great Britain, in which the majority of British people were in favor of leaving the European Union. May supported the previous British prime minister and was opposed to separation from Europe.
However, Eurosceptics won the vote. Cameron resigned and May took his place. A lot is expected of her. First of all, a smooth exit of the country from the eurozone, which will take more than one year. It should also be noted that May became only the second woman in British history to hold this post.
Russian President
It is impossible not to mention the Russian head of state in this list. Although he ended up in 9th place, receiving $136,000 a year.
But in the ranking of Russian presidents, Vladimir Putin is certainly in the lead. And according to surveys of authoritative publications, he has repeatedly been among the most authoritative people on the planet. For several years now.
At the moment, Putin holds the presidency for the third time. His last term was currently marked by serious steps in foreign and domestic policy. In particular, the Crimea peninsula was included in the country, after which a number of foreign countries imposed strict economic sanctions against Russia. In response, Putin decided to impose counter-sanctions, banning the import of food from states that wished to impose sanctions.
Jacob Zuma
Such high earnings allowed him to take a very high place in this ranking of world presidents. In South Africa, the head of state is not elected by members of parliament. Zuma received the support of MPs in 2009. Since then he has been in office for the second term. His government pays great attention economic development and infrastructure construction.
Angela Merkel
She has served as Chancellor of Germany since 2005. During this time, she managed to become one of the most authoritative politicians in the European Union.
Justin Trudeau
He headed the state in 2015. He pays great attention to the equality of women. Thus, in his cabinet of ministers there are exactly 15 men and women. In addition, the most popular nationalities living in Canada are represented.
Rating leader
The first place on this list at the end of 2016 was taken by American President Barack Obama. He receives $400,000.
At the same time, he occupies a very low position in the ranking of US presidents throughout his history. Many of his decisions were repeatedly criticized and challenged. Thus, in the ranking of US presidents throughout history, Obama is only in 12th place. The leader, by the way, is Abraham Likoln. Obama, who began by receiving Nobel Prize world, then disappointed many with his aggressive foreign policy.
That's why he ranks so low in the ranking of American presidents. Americans value stability and self-confidence first of all. Obama failed to solve the main problem that faced him - defeating Islamic terrorism.
At the same time, there were many positive things in his work. That is why in the ranking of US presidents, the list of which is last years everyone knows, he beat both Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.
It is worth noting that the current US President, billionaire Donald Trump, will no longer be able to top this list. He stated that he would work for a symbolic payment of $1.
There are more than 7.4 billion people on planet Earth, but only a very small part of them have the ability to change the world. Forbes magazine presents ranking of the most influential people in the world. The selection of participants was made according to the following criteria: the number of people over whom the candidate has power; fortune and fame.
The youngest influential person on the planet according to Forbes. Mark is only 32 years old, while other participants on average are already in their sixties. In 2016, he made a breakthrough, rising 9 positions in the rankings, and also became the year. With all their wealth (Mark is worth $50 billion), Zuckerberg and his wife do not forget about charity. In September 2016, he and his wife, Priscilla Chan, pledged to spend $3 billion to eradicate all diseases in the world by the end of the century.
9. Narendra Modi
Narendra's popularity among the people of India is becoming greater and greater. Even the sudden monetary reform in order to fight corruption did not harm it. In November 2016, the 66-year-old prime minister suddenly ordered the cancellation of India's two highest denomination notes, prompting the public to storm exchange offices.
8. Larry Page
In eighth position is the developer of the world famous search engine Google. Last year, Google was reorganized and is now one of the subsidiaries of Alphabet. Larry serves as chairman of the board there.
7. Bill Gates
A man worth $83.8 billion can afford extravagant gestures, such as setting up a chicken coop in one of the Manhattan skyscrapers. But don’t think anything negative – this is all part of the fight against poverty. Bill Gates is simply fascinated by chickens and believes that breeding these animals is a sure way for the African population to get out of poverty.
6. Janet Yellen
American economist and head of the US Federal Reserve System, which oversees the activities of banks and other financial institutions. What adds to her popularity among ordinary Americans is that Janet prefers to express herself as clearly, clearly and understandably as possible, which makes her one of.
5. Pope Francis
The only religious leader and the oldest participant in the ranking of the most influential people on the planet. Pope Francis is already 79 years old! However, he is quite cheerful and continues to inspire his gigantic flock (according to statistics - 1.3 billion people).
4. Xi Jinping
From the very beginning of his presidency in 2012, Xi Jinping set a course for reform and the fight against corruption. The popularity of the Chinese leader is also enhanced by his openness, which is unconventional for China - for example, he recently allowed the publication of detailed description one day from your life.
3. Angela Merkel
Forbes regards Merkel as the last bastion of the liberal West against Russia's growing influence. In 2016, Angela, as a supporter of the European Union, had to cope with the consequences of Brexit, and also had to somehow assimilate the migrants who had flooded Germany, the number of which had already exceeded a million. In 2017, the Germans will hold parliamentary elections, the result of which will show how the German people evaluate Merkel's policies.
2. Donald Trump
An unexpected result: the first billionaire in office took only second place in the top 10 most influential people of 2016. It seems that some Americans, especially the middle and upper classes, traditionally committed to liberal values, are ashamed of their president. True, they prefer to vent their anger not directly, but on Trump’s wife and children. Donald himself promises to devote himself completely to presidential affairs, and entrust the management of his entire vast real estate empire to his children.
1. Vladimir Putin
The Russian president has long arms - he has reached not only Syria, but even the USA! Rumor has it that Donald Trump is a protege of the Kremlin, and the scandal with the alleged interference in the elections by Russian hackers only added heat to the furnace of fears that have been going on since cold war. Both Putin and Trump, of course, deny their involvement in each other's political affairs, but not everyone believes them.
1. Angela Merkel
Federal Chancellor, Germany
Age: 61
Location: Berlin, Germany
Family status: Married
For the 11th time, Merkel took first place in Forbes' annual ranking of the most powerful women. She is the first female politician in Europe to hold power for 16 consecutive years. Merkel helped the country cope with the recession during global crisis and saved the economy from collapse weak link eurozone - Greece. Even the refugee crisis that broke out in Europe, from which Germany suffered the most, did not shake Merkel’s position in the ranking of influential women.
2. Hillary Clinton
US presidential candidate
Age: 68
Placeresidence: Chappaqua, New York
Family status: Married
Children: one Daughter
Clinton came in second place for the first time since announcing her participation in the presidential race in 2016. Today she remains the Democratic Party's most likely candidate. If Clinton becomes the first female president of the United States, it will not be her first breakthrough- she is the only first lady who became a senator in the US Congress, a candidate for the post of president of the country, and then secretary of state.
Clinton's memoir, Hard Choices, published in 2014, became a bestseller; in the book, she talks about her work as US Secretary of State.
Clinton's popularity among voters was shaken only by the scandal with her email, when Hillary was accused that, as head of the State Department in 2009-2013, she, contrary to the rules, used private by email, and not the state one, by installing a personal server at home. Because of this, government letters could be subject to hacker attacks or fall into the hands of foreign intelligence services. Clinton publicly admitted her mistake.
In 2014, Clinton became a grandmother for the first time: her daughter Chelsea gave birth to a girl, Charlotte Clinton Mezvinsky.
3. Janet Yellen
Chairman of the US Federal Reserve
Age: 69
Placeresidence: Washington
Family status: Married
Janet Yellen became the first woman to chair the US Federal Reserve.
Yellen opposes the idea of some members of Congress to conduct the first-ever comprehensive audit of the Fed. “The independence of the Central Bank in conducting monetary policy is considered best practice for Central Banks around the world,” the head of the regulator retorted. — Scientific research"I think left no doubt that independent central banks do better."
Yellen's first term expires in February 2018.
4. Melinda Gates
Co-Chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Age: 51
Placeresidence: Medina, Washington
Family status: Married
Children: three
Melinda Gates is one of the leaders of global philanthropy. Since the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation was founded in 2000, it has awarded more than $33 billion in grants. Gates is confident that it is necessary to organize events for target audience, monitor data and establish global cooperation between countries and funds. She personally determines the direction of the fund's development and evaluates its effectiveness. Now one of the main issues that her foundation deals with is women's health in developing countries, equal rights for women and educational opportunities for women around the world.
By order of the spouses, within 20 years after the death of the last co-founder, all funds must be spent and the fund will curtail its activities. Gates is now investing $17.5 million to solve the migrant crisis from the Middle East.
To learn more about how Melinda Gates became one of the world's most influential philanthropists,
5. Mary Barra
President of General Motors
Age: 54
Placeresidence: Novi, Michigan
Family status: Married
Children: two
The first female CEO of the auto giant, Mary Barra, has been ranked fifth for the second year in the ranking of the most influential women according to Forbes. The reason is her success as head of GM. Barra was appointed in January 2014 and endured a very difficult first year: a few months after taking office, she participated in court hearings(the company was blamed for the deaths of 74 people and the injuries of 126), authorized the recall of 30 million vehicles and withstood pressure from investors who demanded the return of money to shareholders. In October, Barra unveiled a strategy for the company's future development that would see Cadillac become a global luxury brand, with a big bet on sales growth in China and technological innovation. Under Barr's leadership, GM gained financial discipline and was not afraid difficult decisions, such as the closure of branches in Russia, Australia, Indonesia or the departure of the Chevrolet brand from Europe due to low profitability. Barra, a 35-year GM veteran, began working for the company at age 18 while studying electrical engineering at university.
6. Christine Lagarde
Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund
Age: 60
Placeresidence: Washington, DC
Family status: Single
Children: two
First woman as leader financial organization, whose members are 188 countries. On February 19, 2016, she was re-elected to this post. Most She spent the first years of her work fighting the financial crisis. Lagarde now predicts 3.5 percent annual global growth in the world economy. She calls such numbers “mediocre indicators” and believes that slow growth is part of the “new reality.”
Lagarde actively defends the rights of working women. “All countries will be able to save money and increase productivity if women have access to the labor market,” the head of the IMF is confident. - This is not just a question of morality, philosophy or equal opportunities. This is a question of cause and effect in economics. It doesn’t take much intelligence to understand this.” Lagarde was born in France, worked as a lawyer in the field labor relations and antitrust policy in the United States before becoming French finance minister.
7. Sheryl Sandberg
Director of Operations at Facebook
Age: 46
Placeresidence: Atterton, California
Family status: widow
Children: two
At Facebook, Sheryl Sandberg is responsible for sales, marketing, business development, human resources and communications. Under her leadership, the company improved its performance and changed its strategy for working with mobile applications. She became the first woman on the company's board of directors.
Two years ago, she became the author of the best-selling book “Dare to Take Action,” thanks to which she received the support of many famous women. After the book's release, thousands of followers of Sandberg's philosophy appeared, a sequel, Dare to Take Action - for Graduates, was released, and Sony Pictures obtained consent to shoot a film based on the book. In May 2014, Sandberg took part in The Giving Pledge, pledging to give back at least half of his fortune to charity.
In May 2015, Sandberg lost her husband, Dave Goldberg, who headed the online survey service SurveyMonkey.
9. Margaret Whitman
CEO of Hewlett Packard Enterprise
Age: 59
Citizenship: USA
Family status: Married
Children: four
At the end of 2015, Whitman became head of Hewlett Packard Enterprise. Hewlett-Packard, one of the oldest IT companies on the market with revenue of $52 billion, on November 1, 2015, made a division for which it had been preparing for more than a year. From the time the division was announced in October 2014 until the end of October 2015, HP's share price fell by 17%. Hewlett Packard Enterprise has created a separate corporate business - servers, data centers, network solutions and consulting. In this case, the separated part behaves like the main company. It retains 80% of the workforce, a wide product line from servers and network equipment to corporate software and technical support. Before the division, Whitman served as CEO of the entire corporation, and even earlier, from 1998 to 2008, she was general director and President of eBay.
10. Ana Patricia Botin
Chairman of the Board of Directors of the financial and credit group Santander
Age: 55
Citizenship: Spain
Family status: Married
Children: three
In 2014, Ana Patricia Botin became one of the most powerful women in banking, heading the largest bank in the Eurozone. She took over as chairman of the board after her father died of a heart attack. In recent years, the bank has been criticized for shortcomings in its service, so the first thing Botin did was introduce new programs for clients. Thanks to her efforts, the bank can now carry out, for example, transactions with cryptocurrency. The situation in Brazil and the UK, where the bank has branches, could greatly undermine its position. In May 2016, Botin hastened to assure clients that the bank would remain in the UK, even if the country decided to leave the European Union.
56. Elvira Nabiullina
Chairman of the Central Bank of Russia
Age: 52
Placeresidence: Moscow, Russia
Family status: Married
Children: two
Elvira Nabiullina is included in the ranking of the most influential women in the world for the third time, in 2014 she was in 72nd place, in 2015 - in 71st, in 2016 - in 56th. Nabiullina headed the Central Bank in 2013, becoming the first woman in the history of the G8 countries to hold such a position; she was in charge of the regulator of the world's tenth economy with a country's GDP of $1.8 trillion. The end of 2014 and the beginning of 2015 were difficult for Nabiullina; Russia was in the midst of a crisis, and the chairman of the Central Bank had to make a number of difficult decisions. Oil prices fell, and the ruble depreciated behind them. Sanctions against Russia also played a role. The Central Bank has spent several billion rubles to stabilize the ruble exchange rate, but it is still far from overcoming the crisis.
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