Eurasia Group is pleased to announce the release of "Top 10 Leaders of 2007." This is a forward-looking list of extraordinary politicians whom Eurasia Group expects to significantly impact the trajectory of their country and/or global politics in the year ahead.
"Leaders of key states are always important," said Preston Keat, Director of Research, "but this list is designed to focus on powerful individuals who will be facing particular challenges in the coming year that really make them worth watching."
At the top of the list is Hu Jintao, President of China. Eurasia Group says 2007 will be a "breakout year" for the president, who is expected to consolidate his power in the upcoming 17th Party Congress and use his strengthened mandate to push his policy agenda more aggressively.
The full list features the following leaders:
1. Hu Jintao, President of China
2. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, President of Iran
3. Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation
4. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Prime Minister, Turkey
5. Hasan Nasrullah, Leader of Hizbollah
6. George W. Bush, President of the US
7. Moqtada al-Sadr, Shia cleric in Iraq
8. Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud, King of Saudi Arabia
9. Pervez Musharraf, President of Pakistan
10. Raul Castro, Acting President of Cuba
The Top 10 Leaders of 2007 was constructed by the research practice of Eurasia Group, which includes the firm's regional and functional practice groups, as well as its global network of over 400 individuals who comprise in-country teams. Eurasia Group hopes to draw attention to not only important leaders, but also to the key decisions and inflection points that the firm expects to define global politics in the year 2007.
