Foreign Policy article Russian president highest rating

An article in the US Foreign Policy magazine says Russian President Vladimir Putin is the most influential person of the world in 2012, RIA Novosti reports.

The journal says that Russia does not have as much power as the USSR, but no one has as much power as Putin. The Russian leader is formally the second in the rating, but the top name has not been chosen, so it was taken by Putin.

Chairman of the US Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke follows Putin as the third name in the rating, followed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, then US President Barack Obama, President of the European Central Bank Mario Draghi, Secretary General of the Chinese Communist Party Xi Jinping, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, head of the IMF Christine Lagarde and King of Saudi Arabia Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.