| Rank | Leader | Country | Previous Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Xi Jiangping | China | 1 |
| 2 | Kim Jong-un | North Korea | 2 |
| 3 | Vladimir Putin | Russia | 3 |
| 4 | Jacinda Ardern | New Zealand | 4 |
| 5 | Benjamin Netanyahu | Israel | Not Ranked |
| 6 | Abiy Ahmed | Ethiopia | 6 |
| 7 | Abdel Burhan | Sudan | Not Ranked |
| 8 | Lenin Moreno | Ecuador | Not Ranked |
| 9 | Theresa May | United Kingdom | Not Ranked |
| 10 | Donald Trump | United States | 10 |
1. China's Belt Road initiative continues to open up markets and China has increased its influence in the world since U.S. President Donald Trump pulled back on America's clout.
2. In negotiations with the U.S. Kim has been masterful, making Trump look like the ridiculous tyrant while a man who has no problem executing his uncle and torturing his citizens comes across as the reasonable one.
3. The Mueller Report was good news for Putin. He also has a team of cyber criminals at the ready to do his bidding and the U.S. is woefully under-prepared to counter it, largely because the U.S. president doesn't think there's a problem. He thinks this way because Putin told him and Putin wouldn't lie, would he?
4. Ardern not only runs one of the least corrupt countries, showed great empathy and leadership in the wake of the horrific attacks on mosques in her country, but she also spearheaded gun reform after the tragedy.
5. It doesn't matter how corrupt or how insane the people he cozies up to are, Netanyahu can't be beaten. He just won another election against all odds. Either he is a political survivor or the Israeli electorate needs to take a look in the mirror.
6. Things are better for the Ethiopian media since Abiy took over leadership, but not perfect. He has played a real role in turning the country's fortunes around. But he is amassing enemies as a result.
7. Abdel Burhan is head aof a transitional authority that took over after Omar Al-Bashir was overthrown in a coup. Omar al-Bashir was one of the most despicable leaders of all time, orchestrating the Darfur genocide. He was the champion of the Evil Leaders League, a forerunner of sorts to this list. Anyone who overthrows him is doing something right.
8. Moreno finally got fed up with Wikileaks founder Julian Assange's bad manner and bad hygiene and kicked him out of the Ecuadorian embassy in London. Assange was immediately arrested. No one really likes Assange. I'm all for government transparency, but he's personally distasteful and Moreno made the rare move that brings most people together.
9. Theresa May's time as Prime Minister has been an unmitigated disaster. But she makes the list because she is like that one student in your college lasses who kept getting extensions for some inexplicable reason. She has asserted that she will resign as soon as Brexit, which will be disastrous for the UK, goes through. So it was pretty smart to buy herself another seven months to hold onto power and maybe just maybe come up with something in the meantime.
10. The Mueller Report didn't quite exonerate Donald Trump as he would have you believe. But it could've been much worse. For now he's still one of the weakest presidents of the most powerful country.
