Obama not as powerful as Putin: Forbes

ISTANBUL

A picture taken in Moscow region on October 23, 2013, shows Russia's President Vladimir Putin sitting at his study in one of the presidential residences while taking part in a video link with Russian energy giant Gazprom officials who gathered in the Pacific island of Sakhalin. AFP PHOTO/ RIA-NOVOSTI

Russian President Vladimir Putin attained the title as the world’s most powerful person after rounds of voting conducted by Forbes editors, taking over the title from the previous year’s winner, U.S. President Barack Obama.

The magazine said Putin strengthened his control over Russia as the American president struggled with the “lame duck period”, which “set in earlier than usual for a two-term president.”

Forbes editors sift through a pool of 70 power figures to rank personalities on the annual Most Powerful People in the World list, with the individual’s scope of influence and financial resources determining whether they cut the list or not. This culling process is then followed by an extensive assessment of candidates against a number of carefully-formulated “power criteria.”

Putin, who had never been granted the title, was done so this year, leaving behind 16 other heads of states scattered among the lower spots. Obama and Xi Jinping, the general secretary of the Communist Party of China, are the next highest ranking political figures. Obama, according to Forbes, has been on the top of the list for every year of his rule, with the exception of 2010, where Hu Jintao, the former political and military leader of China, took the lead.

The list this year carries 13 newcomers, including Pope Francis and Samsung.