World Most Powerful People 2009 - Yousaf Raza Gillani at 38th

Recently Forbes issued a list of world’s 67 most powerful people; which seems to be entertaining at one point and also a thought provoking on the other. For most of us such lists are not more than interesting world facts; which we like to remember and quote at different occasions; and for people mentioned in the list just adds to their achievements. Though not everyone mentioned in the list has been added to something good they did; we have a few notorious ones like Osama Bin Laden and Mexican drug lord Joaquín Guzmán or for that matter Dawood Ibrahim. And why not they be a part of it? After all we are talking about most powerful people!

Reading the line ‘World’s most powerful people’ gives a very intense impression, but when you read the list in details you will find out that most in fact majority are related to Business or world of Finance and a few politicians along with a couple of religious or spiritual leaders are part of it.

Obama, Nobel Peace Prize winner being at the top of the list does not come as a much surprise; though we may all not agree with it but yet after all he is the president of the only world power right now, so it may not be Obama that tops the list but the President of United States that tops the list. Though the only former U.S President and First lady to make to the list is Mr. and Mrs. Clinton; where Mrs. Clinton leads as ranked at 17th position whereas her husband at 31st.

The list can be extended and few other names that can also be included in it. Most of the names in the current list are either founders or directors of Giants like Toyota or Google. And then we have Pope Benedict XVI at number 6 and Tenzin Gyasto (Dalai Lama) number 39; I wonder why Imam-e-Kabah has not been made part of it because from whichever angle you look at it; he surely is one of the most influential and powerful person on earth.

Another important point to note is that a lot of Chinese have made it to the list showing the influence they have on the world now; though an important sector that is Hollywood has been neglected a bit other then Operah Winfrey not any particular celebrity has been able to make it to the list.

Despite being a developing nation a few Indians billionaires are also here; having the likes of Lakshmi Mittal ranked at 55 or Ratan Tata at 59. The most powerful people list has also been influenced by top richest people as well; with the likes of William Gates III or Warren Buffet.

Similarly players that make the earth go round are not part of this powerful panel; whereas I think Sir Alex Ferguson coach of MANU should have been part of this list and players like Roger Frederer or Tiger Woods that have ruled their respective games; because these players have come out of their skins to perform and become what they are now.

What seems to be an important part of this list is the presence of financial pundits in it which somehow the other shows that the makers of this list had the current economic meltdown at the back of their mind. It seems that the list has been shadowed by the current marks of world affairs.

Though the interesting part to see here is that Google’s founder ranked at 5th along with Apple’s ranked at 57th position are present in the list.

Interesting part to note is that, Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani, ranked at 38th not so surprisingly below Osama bin laden and Manmohan Singh; Indian Prime Minister, makes the list as well. Though it seems that President Asif Ali Zardari should have been given a slot instead of Gilani and COAS Ashfaq Pervez Kiyani – leading an army of more than six hundred thousand men had also been part of this elite powerful panel. An important observation to make here is that the reason Gilani has been awarded a place is due to the nuclear arsenal and the role of Pakistan on War on Terror. I am sure had this list been made in late 90’s, no Pakistani person would have been made part of it.

With Osama on 37th; I think it would be unfair not to hand Mulla Umar a slot then; being part and parcel of Osama, they both form a very formidable team that has led the war against U.S in a very well planned way.

An important personality that seemed to have missed out is post of U.N Secretary General; though it may be right in a way not to put his name or post in the list because U.N according a lot of people has become more of a global NGO.

I wonder how the list would had been, if Hitler and Napoleon or for that matter Changaiz Khan had been alive? I think it is practically impossible to embed and label someone into such a list where people with such diverse back grounds can be lined together. For me such lists are more a subjective view then an objective analysis of the overall caliber of the person to list them in such categories.

Following are the names and ranks of World’s most powerful people in the same order as determined by Forbes; out of the list of 67; 22 most powerful people belong to U.S.

1. Barack Obama – U.S President
2. Hu Jintao – Chinese President
3. Vladimir Putin – Russian Prime Minister
4. Ben S. Bernanke – Chairman of Federal Reserve – U.S
5. Sergey Brin and Larry Page – Google Founders – U.S
6. Carlos Slim Helu – Chief Executive Telemex – Mexico
7. Rupert Murdoch – Chairman News Corp – U.S
8. Michael T. Duke – President, CEO and Director Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. – U.S
9. Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz al Saud – King Saudi Arabia
10. William Gates III – Co-Chair Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation U.S
11. Pope Benedict XVI – Pope Roman Catholic Church - Vatican City
12. Silvio Berlusconi – Prime Minister – Italy
13. Jeffrey R. Immelt – Chairman General Electric Company – U.S
14. Warren Buffett – Chief Executive Berkshire Hathaway – U.S
15. Angela Merkel – Chancellor – Germany
16. Laurence D. Fink – Chairman BlackRock, Inc. – U.S
17. Hillary Clinton – Secretary of State U.S
18. Lloyd C. Blankfein – Chairman Golman Sachs Group, Inc. – U.S
19. Li Changchun – Propaganda Chief Communist Party of China
20. Michael Bloomberg – Mayor and Founder New York City & Bloomberg LP. – U.S
21. Timothy Geithner – Secretary United States Treasury – U.S
22. Rex W. Tillerson – Chairman Exxon Mobile – U.S
23. Li Ka-shing - Chairman Cheung Kong (Holdings) Limited - Hong Kong
24. Kim Jong Il – Chairman of National Defense Commission North Korea
25. Jean-Claude Trichet – President European Central Bank – France
26. Masaaki Shirakawa – Governor Bank of Japan
27. Sheikh Ahmed bin Zayed al Nahyan – Managing Dir. Abu Dhabi Investment Authority – U.A.E
28. Akio Toyoda – Chief Executive Toyota Motor Corporation ADS - Japan
29. Gordon Brown – Prime Minister – U.K
30. James S. Dimon – Chairman JPMorgan Chase & Company – U.S
31. Bill Clinton – Former U.S President
32. William H. Gross – Chief Investment Officer Pacific Investment Management Company – U.S
33. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva – President Brazil
34. Lou Jiwei – Chairman china Investment Corporation – China
35. Yukio Hatoyama – Prime Minister – Japan
36. Manmohan Singh – Prime Minister – India
37. Osama bin Laden – Founder Al-Qaeda – Saudi Arabia
38. Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani – Prime Minister – Pakistan
39. Tenzin Gyatso – Dalai Lama – Tibet
40. Ali Hoseini-Khamenei – Grand Ayatollah Shi’a – Iran
41. Joaquin Guzman –Drug Trafficker Sinaloa Cartel – Mexico
42. Igor Sechin – Deputy Prime Minister – Russia
43. Dmitry Medvedev – President – Russia
44. Mukesh Ambani – Chairman Reliance Industries Limited – India
45. Oprah Winfrey – Media Personality – U.S
46. Benjamin Netanyahu – Prime Minister – Israel
47. Dominique Strauss-Kahn –Managing Director International Monitory Fund – France
48. Zhou Xiaochuan – Governor People’s Bank of China – China
49. John Roberts Jr. – Chief Justice United States Supreme Court – U.S
50. Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar – Head D-Company – India
51. William Keller – Executive Editor The New York Times – U.S
52. Bernard Arnault – Chairman Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy – France
53. Joseph S. Blatter – President FIFA – Switzerland
54. Wadah Khanfar – Director General Al-Jazeera – Palestine
55. Lakshmi Mittal – Chairman ArcelorMittal ADS – India
56. Nicolas Sarkozy – President – France
57. Steve Jobs – Chief Executive Apple, Inc. – U.S
58. Fujio Mitarai – Chairman Canon, Inc. ADR – Japan
59. Ratan Tata – Chairman Tata Group – India
60. Jacques Rogge – President International Olympic Committee – Belgium
61. Li Rongrong – Chairman State-owned Assets Supervision & Administration Commission – China
62. Blairo Maggi – Governor Mato Grasso - Brazil
63. Robert B. Zoellick – President World Bank – U.S
64. Antonio Guterres – High Commissioner for Refugees U.N – Portugal
65. Mark John Thompson – Director General British Broadcasting Corporation – U.K
66. Klaus Schwab – Founder World Economic Forum – Germany
67. Hugo Chavez – President Venezuela

Related Articles

• Obama’s Speech: Full Transcript (0)
• Webster Tarpley - Man Behind Obama (0)
• Obama’s Air War Coming To The Cities? (1)
• Message By US Citizen To Pakistani Media & Blogs (1)
• Obama Choose Pakistani’s as His First Victims for Murder (36)
• Any One Remember Dr. Aafia Siddiqui? (6)
• Barack Obama’s Inauguration Ceremony (1)
• Barack Hussain Obama Won US Presidential Elections (4)
• Obama in for cheap publicity ? (2)
• Pakistani Dream! What is yours? (0)
• Pakistanis in Denmark - An Interesting Insight! (0)
• Taxi Driver Asif Hussain Shah - An Inspiration for Netizens (0)
• Telenor Karo Mumkin - Pakistan in Future (0)
• Forbes Worlds Richest People 2010 (1)
• Pakistan Human Development Index 2010 (0)

Share This Article

Hide Sites