Angela Merkel on Forbes Lists

#2 Powerful People (2015)

#5 in 2014

#1 Power Women (2015)

German Chancellor Angela Merkel continues her reign as the most powerful
woman on the planet for 10 years running. Why? She clinched a third four-year
term of Europe's most vibrant economy in December 2014, making her the
longest-serving elected EU head of state. She fought off a national recession
during the global economic crisis with stimulus packages and government
subsidies for companies that cut hours for workers, and she is in the thick of
trying to help Greece revive its economy. She has used her power against ISIS,
breaking the post-Nazi-era taboo of direct involvement in military actions by
sending arms to Kurdish fighters. In the Russia-Ukraine crisis, she has been
engaging in shuttle diplomacy trying to broker a peace deal with Vladimir Putin.
There's only one woman who has a chance of endangering her tenure as No. 1 in
2016 -- the world's No. 2 most powerful woman.