The most influential women in world politics
Politics has always been mostly male sphere and remains so in 2014 At the same time, every year more and more women appear, not just having an impressive political weight, but whose names are as well known to a wide audience like Bush, Cameron, Putin or Kim Jong-un. A characteristic feature of modern women politicians has become their immediacy, which only works to the advantage of political image. And I understand why. Remember though the funny costumes and the selfie of Hillary Clinton, even the sketch of Michelle Obama with Jimmy Fallon. Willingness to fool around in public and emotionality does not affect their business skills and achievements. We talk about the brightest and most influential women in the world political arena, many of whom survived repression, public shame and were content with second roles for a long time, which did not prevent them from changing the lives of entire countries and continuing to pursue this goal in 2014.
Angela Merkel
German Chancellor
There is no such corner in the world where Angels Merkel do not know and do not recognize her influence. For nearly ten years, Merkel has ruled Germany, which, in turn, is the engine of the European economy. The reason for her incredible influence recently tried to unravel The New Yorker, but even there they surrendered and concluded that she just wants power for the sake of power. Chauvinists impute Merkel that she does not have children and allegedly therefore had time to build an outstanding career, behaviorists blame the quiet pool and amazing non-maturity, and the Greeks basically hate that she no longer gives them money. The German Chancellor is really very quiet and consistent. He wears jackets of the same type for years and does not give grounds for condemnation, therefore the world community is trying to predict her actions of bending her eyebrows or displeasure in her eyes. However, if someone knows the recipe for a dizzying political career, it’s she: work hard, never complain, live modestly, hope for the best and keep a weekly video podcast.
Hillary Clinton
former US Secretary of State, member of the US Democratic Party
The political career of Hillary Clinton was prophesied in times when she with iron calm and incredible dignity transferred the story from "I did not have sexual relations with that woman" - that is, forgive betrayal, saying that no matter what, "no one understands me better and no one can make me laugh the way Bill does. " Although, according to cynics, only a woman who wanted to enter politics in white could forgive adultery, divorce does not prevent some of the current presidents of the world from being influential. Following the results for today, Hillary has already finished her second memoirs (this time about the existence of the state secretary), was a senator from the state of New York and fought for the nomination for the US presidency from Democrats with Barack Obama. Despite the controversial opinions that have developed around her figure in the circles of the US intellectual elite, the population loves her very much and sees herself as the next president of the country. Hillary herself denied such intentions, but last year she stated that she was thinking about running. And here is the support from Barack Obama, who at the end of November this year said that "Hillary Clinton would have become a great president." You go girl
Dilma Rousseff
brazilian president
A man of amazing fate, running the country with the 7th largest nominal GDP economy in the world. Such people in Russia are called "political". Dilma's father is a Bulgarian émigré and a communist who, due to persecution, was forced to leave the country and finally settle in Brazil. Dilma herself after the 1964 military coup in Brazil joined the radical socialist faction and, in fact, was a partisan in underground armed organizations or, according to some, quite a terrorist (although she did not participate in hostilities). For her work, she went to prison where she was tortured, but two years later she came out and restored her life bit by bit: she went to university, went into politics in opposition, became energy minister, then head of the presidential administration, and then just the president.
In addition, at the height of his political career, Rusef cured cancer — in general, through copper pipes on the path to greatness. Local officials, whom she deftly tortured for corruption, tried to deduct her "for the loss of trust", but it is impossible to intimidate a person who has been imprisoned. Moreover, Dilma did several plastic surgeries, stopped wearing glasses and changed her style radically - and all for the sake of winning the elections. She is respected and feared, although they are joking - in an unofficial, but very popular Facebook page. The account, allegedly being conducted on behalf of Rousseff, says: "I am the Queen of the Nation, the people's diva, the Empress of the Americas. I am beautiful, I am diva, I am president. I am Dilma!" Can not argue.
Michelle Obama
first lady of usa
Despite the lowest rating of her husband Barack Obama in the entire history of his presidency, Michelle Obama does not lose ground. The biggest claim to her is still her excellent style - allegedly the first lady concentrates too much on clothes instead of doing something. At the same time, a graduate of Princeton and Harvard Law School, who celebrated her 50th birthday this year, is accused of enormous influence on her husband, comparing this with Nancy Reagan, and in her ideology they find similarities with Eleanor Roosevelt, as if there is something bad in it .
Michelle Obama managed to appear in Vogue, organize a campaign to protect the rights of the LGBT community, fight against childhood obesity, breaking the garden for this purpose right in the garden of the presidential residence, and being a very good mother to two daughters and a wife to her husband, which is also generally huge work (do not tire of repeating). Although Michelle Obama is difficult to suspect of presidential ambitions, if she decides to run, it will not surprise everyone - it seems that the political career of the first ladies after the rule of their husbands can become a habit in American politics.
Elizabeth II
Queen of Great Britain
With such a queen, it becomes obvious why the people of Great Britain are so hard to part with nostalgia for the monarchy. Although Elizabeth II performs an exclusively representative function, without officially participating in governing the country, its influence still remains. She can afford to wear a hoodie and get behind the wheel of her Range Rover at 86, jump from a parachute and generally be the first head of state to send an email (in 1976!). Because of her age and incredible endurance, Elizabeth II earned herself a reputation as a wise and experienced queen, who almost all British Prime Ministers went to consult with and who are still rummaging in the press with caution - not like they usually do in the British newspapers in the morning . In her case, the phrase “she will outlive you all” no longer seems like a mockery: prime ministers come and go, children and grandchildren change their views, partners and go into insanity - and only Elizabeth II in her 88 continues to behave as the queen is supposed to - with head held high and fulfilling all obligations. Probably, if you have never lost face in your life, then this can be called not a habit and a duty, but a character trait that you really should keep.
Pak Geun Hye
President of the Republic of Korea
Park Geun-hye has been familiar with the presidential share since childhood, since the reign of his father, General Park Chung-hee, who seized power through a military coup. The general was famous for his cruel rule and the suppression of civil liberties; his daughter was a humanist and a supporter of the rejection of nuclear weapons (which she all the time constantly hints to North Korea). Residents consider their president to be reliable and calm, Park Geun-hye is one of those people whose strength is in their kindness.
Unlike most of her colleagues in the international arena, she came to big politics quite early — at the age of 45, instantly gaining trust and popularity from society and subsequently becoming the first female president of South Korea. The problems that Park Geun-hye is getting, in keeping with the country she controls, are entirely technological. Six months after she became president, the group Anonymous made a series of hacker attacks on the website of Park Geun-hye and the government department, which led to the leakage of personal information of about 100 thousand people. The president, albeit looking askance at North Korea, did not lose her head and sent 5,000 people to learn cyber security.
Although South Korea and a small country, from the very beginning of the presidential term, Park Geun-hye became one of the main actors in the Korean missile crisis, in which the United States, Japan and North Korea also participated, and the North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, also raged horribly. closed joint border crossing with South Korea. In East Asia, it’s not very easy, but Park Geun-hye does not despair, calling his colleague to relative peace and partnership, and even succeeds a little in this.
Helen Johnson-Sirleaf
president of liberia
If we take for granted that economists make the best politicians, then the 76-year-old president of Liberia is a direct confirmation of this. Under her leadership, the country, previously torn by internal contradictions and military conflicts, has been living in peace for almost a decade. Helen is the world's first black president and first female president in Africa, as well as the winner of the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize for "non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for the rights of women to participate fully in building peace."
The President of Liberia began her career in government as Assistant Minister of Finance, then as Minister of Finance, but she was expelled from the country, threatened with a deadline for criticizing the military regime pursued by the then President of the Republic. Helen returned to Liberia after twelve years as an economist at the World Bank and began to consistently destroy the power of political opponents, regain influence and prepare a springboard for elections. She is strict and decisive in her fight against corruption, in attempts to help the poorest segments of the population and improve the status of women in the country, and has really succeeded in establishing and maintaining peace and relative calm in a very troubled region.
True, political opponents accuse Helen of bias and abuse of power. For example, she twice transferred the elections to the Senate and banned rallies allegedly because of the spread of Ebola fever, although many see this as an attempt to help her son run successfully, since voters are going to support his main political opponent.
Elvira Nabiullina
Chairman of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation
The former assistant to the president of Russia, and in fact her irreplaceable economic adviser, Elvira Nabiullina always came into contact with politics, starting with consultations and ending with the post of chairman of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation. She became the first woman to serve as the chairman of the country's central bank, a member of the G8, and is responsible for $ 512 billion of Russia's gold and foreign exchange reserves. Nabiullina has always been a supporter of strengthening the ruble, and after 11 years of tight monetary policy and a significant reduction in inflation, she is now experiencing a period of uncertainty due to the escalation of the political conflict between Russia and Ukraine and the subsequent weakening of the national currency with an impending crisis. In this connection, she received an assignment from above “to stop speculation in the foreign exchange market”, which, as before, she certainly met with dignity - Elvira Nabiullina is known for her lack of conflict, secrecy and ability to generate a huge number of ideas for economic programs. Now for Nabiullina, of course, a difficult time, because the views of all countries of the world are literally turned to her, and the most concerned parties have already managed to make her a scapegoat, accusing the Central Bank of conspiracy against their own country.
Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner
president of argentina
Argentina's presidency, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, actually received as a result of the well-known Operation Successor: at the end of her presidential term, her husband, Nestor Kirchner, said that if she was elected, she could change the country's history. Christina always had a passionate love for politics (and, by her own admission, shopping) and already had experience in public speaking and political campaigning, so in 2007 she won the presidential election. Her inheritance Argentina slowly licked off her wounds after the horrendous economic crisis of 2001-2002 and was relatively patched up by Nestor Kirchner's competent policy.
Christina began to attract investment in the country, to meet with neighboring countries, trying to be friends with everyone. As a result, Argentina’s politicians and journalists are not very fond of her, but she is adored by the people, who are in full confidence that they are just jealous of her. Kirchner, in turn, also does not like media very much and occasionally sues them for slander and insults. During her term, she legalized same-sex marriages, promised to become the godmother of a lesbian couple, banned smoking in public places and eventually attracted 500 million investments into the country. At the same time, she has managed to annoy the UK, quarreling with her over the Falkland Islands, and nationalizing the media in Argentina. The nature is contradictory, but influential, and, perhaps, almost the only female politician who is not afraid to be emotional and even arrogant and, admittedly, is absolutely indispensable for Argentina.
Michelle Bachelet
president of chile
A surgeon by training, Bachelet was a Minister of Health and even a Minister of Defense until his presidency. The first woman president in the history of Chile, who is now working on her second term, won her second election deafeningly, with 62% of the vote. This is not surprising: proclaiming one of the main tasks to reduce the gap between the richest and poorest citizens of Chile, which is one of the highest in the world, it has succeeded in strengthening the country's economy, reducing inflation, reducing unemployment and increasing GDP. In her youth, Bachelet was imprisoned on Pinochet’s personal order, where she was tortured and eventually exiled, but she returned, completed her education and began building a political career.
Michelle enjoys the unconditional respect and love of all the Chilean people, with the exception of schoolchildren who could not forgive her 9-hour school day and social assistance to poor families. Probably the only president in the world who literally negotiated with the shkolota and during the presidential term of which the country was ravaged by monstrous earthquakes. With all the troubles, natural and human, Bachelet coped.
Photo: Getty Images / Fotobank (3), TASS (1), Shutterstock (1,2,3,4,5,6), Oscar Ordenes / Flickr
