finally, here are my thoughts on he whom we have called the most powerful man in the world. first, let me explain the title. the united states and china, for that matter, are more powerful countries than russia, of course, but the power of a head of state is determined both by the country's strength and the capacity he or she has to exercise that power. unilaterally. unconstrained by other institutions, parties or political forces. and combining those two metrics, it's easy to see why vladimir putin rises to the top. he has created what he calls a vertical of power unlike any we have seen in other great nations. as the russian chess grand master has noted, himself a harsh critic of putin, the entire structure of russian political authority rests on one man. when the czar died, after all,