ALEXEY NIKOLSKY / RIA NOVOSTI / KREMLIN POOL/EPAThe leader of the free world is playing second fiddle to Vladimir Putin.
The Russian autocrat knocked President Obama off the top spot in Forbes' fifth annual ranking of 'The World's Most Powerful People.'
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Putin got the honor by outfoxing Obama by granting asylum to National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden, who has been spilling U.S. spying secrets, said Forbes.
Also, it was Putin who scored a diplomatic coup - not Obama - by getting Syria to hand over their chemical weapons to avert threatened U.S. missile strikes.
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'Putin has solidified his control over Russia, while Obama's lame duck period has seemingly set in earlier than usual for a two-term president - latest example: the government shutdown mess,' wrote Forbes writer Caroline Howard.
Actually, Obama came out on top in the showdown with House Republicans, polls showed.
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Obama had been on the top of the Forbes list every year he had been in power except in 2010, when Hu Jintao, the former political and military leader of China, was No. 1.
Forbes, whose editor-in-chief is two time Republican presidential candidate Steve Forbes, had other surprises in its new most powerful list.
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In fourth place after Chinese leader Xi Jinping was an Argentinian who commands no army but has legions of followers - Pope Francis.
It was Francis' first appearance of the Forbes list and he was followed by the world's most powerful woman, German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
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British Prime Minister David Cameron fell out of the top ten, finishing at 11th.
Mayor Bloomberg, another lame duck politician, was ranked 13th. And Tea Party financiers Charles and David Koch were ranked 31st.
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg (No. 24) and North Korea Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un (No. 46) were the youngest on the list. They are 29 and 30.
Forbes said it took four factors into consideration when it created the list: how many people they have power over; the financial resources they control; if they have influence in more than one sphere; and how actively they throw their weight around in the world.
m csiemaszko@nydailynews.co
Posted by Unknown on Wednesday, October 30, 2013 - Rating: 4.5
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