World’s Top 10 Most Powerful People

Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah is the seventh most powerful person in the world, according to the 2012 ranking of the World’s Most Powerful People by Forbes magazine.

The UAE’s President Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan also featured 33rd on the list, which included 71 personalities in total. The only other representative from the GCC was the Kingdom’s oil minister, Ali Al Naimi, who was placed in the 32nd position.

US President Barack Obama topped the Forbes list for a second consecutive year, and was followed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel in the second spot.

“Obama was the decisive winner of the 2012 US presidential election, and now he gets four more years to push his agenda,” Forbes said in its report.

“The President faces major challenges, including an unresolved budget crisis, stubbornly high unemployment and renewed unrest in the Middle East. But Obama remains the unquestioned commander in chief of the world’s greatest military, and head of its sole economic and cultural superpower,” it added.

The list was compiled based on four dimensions including the number of people the candidate has power over; the financial resources controlled by the person; the power of the candidate in multiple spheres and the active use of power.

The 10 most powerful people in the world

1. Barack Obama, US President

2. Angela Merkel, German Chancellor

3. Vladimir Putin, Russian President

4. Bill Gates, Co-Chair, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

5. Pope Benedict XVI, Pope of the Roman Catholic Church

6. Ben Bernanke, Chairman, US Federal Reserve

7. King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, King of Saudi Arabia

8. Mario Draghi, President of the European Central Bank

9. Xi Jinping, General Secretary, Communist Party, China

10. David Cameron, Prime Minister, United Kingdom