5. Angela Merkel
There is no way we were going to do a list of the most powerful people without Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel.
She runs Europe’s true powerhouse economy since 2005 which makes her Europe’s longest serving elected head of state.
Merkel broke the postwar taboo of German involvement in military actions by arming Kurdish Peshmerga fighter against ISIS.
She has taken Germany into the leadership role in Europe that its economic muscle would dictate.
