Obama, drubbed at polls, now dropped from top spot in global power ranking
| Washington
Just in case President Obama wasn鈥檛 feeling deflated enough by the drubbing he got in Tuesday鈥檚 midterm elections, now there鈥檚 this: Forbes magazine has decided he鈥檚 no longer the world鈥檚 most powerful person.
That would be Hu Jintao, president of China, the American business magazine declares in its annual 鈥渕ost powerful鈥� global ranking this week.
Mr. Obama, whom Forbes grants still holds the unofficial title of 鈥淟eader of the Free World,鈥� fell to No. 2 in the power rankings 鈥� behind the leader of the world鈥檚 most populous (and a rare remaining communist) nation 鈥� after occupying the top slot last year.
Saudi King Abdullah jumped six places to land the No. 3 position, while Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin fell one notch to No. 4 this year. Pope Benedict XVI is No. 5.
Forbes editors say they based their elevation of Mr. Hu on the fact that he is leader of one-fifth of the world鈥檚 population, that he presides over the world鈥檚 largest army, and that under Hu, China has rocketed to second place on the list of the world鈥檚 largest economies, with no signs of throttling back.
The magazine also pays homage to Hu鈥檚 extraordinary power at home, noting that 鈥淗u can divert rivers, build cities, jail dissidents and censor [the] Internet without meddling from pesky bureaucrats [and] courts.鈥�
By implication, much of Obama鈥檚 global power derives more from intangibles like America鈥檚 moral leadership and the American president鈥檚 bully pulpit 鈥� although Forbes does recognize that Obama is still commander-in-chief of the world鈥檚 鈥渓argest and deadliest鈥� military and leader of the world鈥檚 largest and 鈥渕ost dynamic鈥� economy.
Still, Obama鈥檚 dethroning from the top ranking suggests that, while he may have used those intangibles to good results in 2009 鈥� his Cairo speech, winning the Nobel Peace Prize 鈥� his international powers took a beating in 2010.
Some China experts were quick to suggest that Forbes was showing its ignorance of the Chinese political system by declaring Hu the world鈥檚 most powerful person. Hu, they say, derives his power from his role as one of nine members of the Chinese Communist Party鈥檚 Politburo Standing Committee, not from being president 鈥� a role whose power, they say, pales in comparison to that of Communist China鈥檚 leaders of the past.
In any case, the Forbes list was timely not only because of the midterm election results, but also because it came out just as Obama was undertaking the longest overseas trip of his presidency 鈥� to Asia, and with widespread disquiet about China鈥檚 rise in the region underpinning the 10-day, four-country sojourn.
Obama is set to meet with Hu Nov. 11 in South Korea on the sidelines of a G20 summit. The two leaders are expected to discuss North Korea, but the Forbes rankings seem unlikely to figure on the agenda.
