Person of the Year 2007

His final year as Russia's President has been his most successful yet. At home, he secured his political future. Abroad, he expanded his outsize—if not always benign—influence on global affairs

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Angela Merkel

Hannibal Hansche / Reuters
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As a young woman in communist East Germany, Merkel preserved her freedom of thought by becoming a scientist. When the Berlin Wall fell, she emerged as a gifted politician and champion of free markets. Standing up to Putin's Russia, gingerly reforming Germany's dulled economy, patching up relations with the U.S.—even lending a hand on Mideast peace—she fully emerged this year as the world's most powerful woman.

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