Top 12 Powerfull People of 2011

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Rank 1

The US president topped the 2011 Forbes magazine's list of powerful people. 'Despite faddish American declinism, the U.S. remains, indisputably, the most powerful nation in the world, with the largest, most innovative economy and the deadliest military,' Forbes said. Obama also successfully killed the US top enemy, Osama bin Laden, in May this year. 
















Rank 2

The autocratic Russian leader is expected to remain in office until 2024. Putin is also attempting for a new economic union of Russia and several former Soviet republics, including Kazakhstan, Belarus and Ukraine, by 2015, the magazine said.














Rank 3

According to Forbes, although Hu currently holds all 3 top offices in China, he will gradually give up his titles over the next few years, as part of a well-orchestrated succession plan, starting from next year. His presumed successor, Xi ­Jinping, will assume the Chinese presidency a year later.














Rank 4

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the world's most powerful woman, heads Europe's most vibrant economy and is widely viewed as the de facto leader of the EU, Forbes said. A recent poll in France showed that the French have more faith in Germany's leader (46%) than in their own president, Nicolas Sarkozy (33%). She also refused to support NATO air strikes in Libya.












Rank 5

The world's second-richest man, and the chairman of Microsoft, whose focus on creating, promoting and distributing vaccines is having a massive impact on global health. Gates' goal is to eliminate infectious disease as a major cause of death in his lifetime. He may succeed. Malaria vaccine he backed ­recently passed a key clinical trial. The vaccine has the potential to save millions of lives, Forbes said.


























Rank 6

According to Forbes, the King Abdullah is one of the world's few remaining absolute monarchs. The Saudi King has continued to pursue an agenda of moderate reform in the desert kingdom that contains 20% of the world's known oil reserves and Islam's 2 holiest sites. Recently granted women the right to vote in local elections and has consistently nudged the nation's educational system out from under clerical control. Yet al Saud is no liberal: He opposed the Arab Spring, spending more than $130 billion on social projects designed to quell any domestic pro-democracy movement. 




Rank 7

The spiritual leader to 1.2 billion people, about a sixth of the world's population, delivers the final word on matters of abortion, gay marriage, female priests and, most recently, Occupy Wall Street, Forbes said.
































Rank 8

The chief of US Federal Reserve has injected billions of dollar into the U.S. economy to avoid a global recession. All of the Republican party presidential candidates have vowed that they will fire Bernanke if elected, Forbes said.






























Rank 9

The Facebook founder has done what the CIA failed to do. His creation, Facebook, knows what 800 million people, more than 10% of the world's population, think, read and listen to. Internet users spend more time on Facebook than on any other site. The Harvard dropout is now creating his own monetary system, Facebook Credits, to facilitate transactions and profits. He is now America's 14th-richest man, according to Forbes.








Rank 10

The British Prime Minister now serves as the U.K.'s punching bag, Forbes said. Cameron faces a splintering coalition and rebellion from within as Conservatives balk at his refusal to withdraw from or renegotiate Britain's relationship with the EU, the magazine added. Even there, he has few friends. 'You have lost a good opportunity to shut up,' France's Nicolas Sarkozy recently sneered at Cameron when he insisted on attending a meeting on the euro crisis. 'We are sick of you criticizing us and telling us what to do. You say you hate the euro, and now you want to interfere in our meetings.'




















Rank 11

India's most powerful politician has twice ­refused to serve as prime minister, delegating that job to Manmohan Singh, Forbes said. She was out of the country seeking medical attention during the nation-shaking anti-corruption hunger strike by Anna Hazare. 
















Rank 12

The incorruptible Cambridge-and Oxford-educated economist is widely respected as the man behind India's economic reforms, which have led to the subcontinent's blistering growth over the last decade. However, spreading the benefits to the poorest ­remains difficult although the Indian GDP grows at 8% this year, according to Forbes.