Chancellor Merkel is not only the most powerful woman in the world, according to Forbes, but the sixth most powerful person when men are included on the list. She is head of Europe鈥檚 鈥渙ne real global economy鈥� and the 鈥渦ndisputed鈥� leader of the European Union during one of the EU鈥檚 most turbulent periods.
As the leader of the only European country with a booming economy, her support has been critical to stabilizing the union鈥檚 debt and keeping it unified, and bailing out other countries. However, her economic decisions haven鈥檛 necessarily made her popular among her German constitutents who say they are tired of bailing out irresponsible neighbors. Her approval rating is in the 30s. However, her global ranking is up from No. 4 last year to the top spot this year. On the overall list, she is No. 6.
Michael Sohn/AP
