Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz al Saud

Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz al Saud, at age 86, controls a large portion of the world's oil reserves and has begun some very small liberalization initiatives (though Saudi Arabia remains one of the most conservative Islamic countries in terms of religious and political freedoms, but many people have to ask: why number 3? After all, this puts him one spot behind Barack Obama, and one spot ahead of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The central thrust of Forbes' reasoning appears to be this: "Absolute ruler of desert kingdom that contains the world's largest crude oil reserves, two holiest sites in Islam. State-owned oil producer Saudi Aramco has reserves of 266 billion barrels, or one-fifth of planet's known supply (worth $22 trillion at today's oil prices)." Oil is a powerful resource in the world, to be true, but despite the periodic cries of 'peak oil', prices have stabilized somewhat over the last few years. Moreover, in the case of a broad political disagreement, Saudi Arabia does not have the armed forces necessary to mount a defense of their precious resources, should any world power seek to take over.

This puts his place ahead of someone like Vladimir Putin somewhat odd, as the Russian president commands a still significant military-industrial complex, and plays a major role in the burgeoning nuclear Iran that many see as one of the conflicts in the world to watch in the next decade. As even Forbes writes, the Russian Prime Minister "has final say over one-ninth of Earth's land area, vast energy and mineral resources. Declared nuclear power has veto on U.N.'s Security Council."

Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz al Saud