Most Influential People2019
- Sandra OhBy Shonda Rhimes
- Indya MooreBy Janet Mock
- Marlon JamesBy Salman Rushdie
- Chrissy TeigenBy Eric Ripert
- Massimo BotturaBy JR
- Hasan MinhajBy Trevor Noah
- Samin NosratBy Alice Waters
- NinjaBy JuJu Smith-Schuster
- Arundhati Katju and Menaka GuruswamyBy Priyanka Chopra
- Naomi OsakaBy Chris Evert
- Leah Greenberg and Ezra LevinBy Ayanna Pressley
- Fred SwanikerBy Mo Ibrahim
- Lynn NottageBy Martha Plimpton
- Tara WestoverBy Bill Gates
- Adam Bowen and James MonseesBy Tom Miller
- Barbara Rae-VenterBy Paul Holes
- He JiankuiBy Jennifer Doudna
- Aileen LeeBy Kirsten Green
- Jay O'Neal and Emily ComerBy Dolores Huerta
- Shep DoelemanBy Lisa Randall
- Jane WalkerBy Pam ElamIN PARTNERSHIP WITHJANE WALKER BY JOHNNIE WALKER
- Dwayne JohnsonBy Gal Gadot
- Regina KingBy Viola Davis
- KhalidBy Alicia Keys
- Emilia ClarkeBy Emma Thompson
- BTSBy Halsey
- Brie LarsonBy Tessa Thompson
- Joanna and Chip GainesBy Tim Tebow
- Ariana GrandeBy Troye Sivan
- Mahershala AliBy Octavia Spencer
- Glenn CloseBy Robert Redford
- Rami MalekBy Robert Downey Jr.
- Luchita HurtadoBy Hans Ulrich Obrist
- OzunaBy Daddy Yankee
- dream hamptonBy Tarana Burke
- Richard MaddenBy Kenneth Branagh
- Yalitza AparicioBy Alfonso Cuarón
- Clare Waight KellerBy Julianne Moore
- Nancy PelosiBy Hillary Rodham Clinton
- Donald TrumpBy Chris Christie
- Greta ThunbergBy Emma González
- Andrés Manuel López ObradorBy Jorge Ramos
- Alexandria Ocasio-CortezBy Elizabeth Warren
- Jacinda ArdernBy Sadiq Khan
- Juan GuaidóBy Juan Manuel Santos
- Abiy AhmedBy Feyisa Lilesa
- Mitch McConnellBy John Boehner
- Brett KavanaughBy Mitch McConnell
- Jane GoodallBy Leonardo DiCaprio
- Benjamin NetanyahuBy David French
- Zhang YimingBy Kai-Fu Lee
- Hoesung LeeBy Ban Ki-moon
- William BarrBy Rod Rosenstein
- Pope FrancisBy Archbishop Charles J. Scicluna
- Xi JinpingBy Jon Huntsman
- Leana WenBy Cynthia Nixon
- Imran KhanBy Ahmed Rashid
- Crown Prince Mohamed bin ZayedBy Ryan Bohl
- Cyril RamaphosaBy Vivienne Walt
- Robert MuellerBy Sally Yates
- Mahathir MohamadBy Clare Rewcastle Brown
- Matteo SalviniBy Steve Bannon
- Jair BolsonaroBy Ian Bremmer
- Zhang KejianBy Scott Kelly
- Taylor SwiftBy Shawn Mendes
- Michelle ObamaBy Beyoncé Knowles-Carter
- Spike LeeBy Jordan Peele
- Christine Blasey FordBy Kamala Harris
- David HockneyBy Edwin Becker
- Desmond MeadeBy Stacey Abrams
- Lady GagaBy Celine Dion
- Radhya AlmutawakelBy Bernie Sanders
- Pierpaolo PiccioliBy Frances McDormand
- Maria RessaBy Madeleine Albright
- Caster SemenyaBy Edwin Moses
- Mirian G.By Kumail Nanjiani
- Grainne Griffin, Ailbhe Smyth and Orla O'ConnorBy Ruth Negga
- Loujain al-HathloulBy Sarah Leah Whitson
- Mohamed SalahBy John Oliver
- LeBron JamesBy Warren Buffett
- Jennifer HymanBy Diane von Furstenberg
- Gayle KingBy Ava DuVernay
- Mark ZuckerbergBy Sean Parker
- Tiger WoodsBy Justin Timberlake
- Jeanne GangBy Anna Deavere Smith
- Bob IgerBy Michael R. Bloomberg
- Pat McGrathBy Beverly Johnson
- Alex MorganBy Mia Hamm
- Vera JourovaBy Margrethe Vestager
- Ryan MurphyBy Jessica Lange
- Mukesh AmbaniBy Anand Mahindra
- Ren ZhengfeiBy Charlie Campbell
- Marillyn HewsonBy Penny Pritzker
- Jerome PowellBy Janet Yellen
Xi Jinping
By Jon HuntsmanAs Xi Jinping stands midstream in his second term, he is focused on legacy.
He will be remembered as the first Chinese President to use a blend of soft and hard power to boost China’s international image and begin its expeditionary ambitions. China’s movement toward center stage has run in parallel with Xi’s personal brand—a modern Son of Heaven recapturing China’s pre-eminence. He has made himself indispensable.
The Belt and Road Initiative, authored by Xi, creates an expansive intercontinental mercantilist network, marking the first time China has “gone global.” He has jettisoned collective leadership for imperial one-man rule and promoted interpretations of Confucian values—benevolence, virtue and filial piety—as the underpinnings of the 21st century Chinese Dream of prosperity. It also conveniently reasserts the Chinese Communist Party back into the affairs of state.
Contradictions are many in the world’s second largest economy, where civil society is nonexistent. Over the past four decades, no other country has benefited as much from the current world order, nor is so desirous of changing it. Xi’s authoritarianism being showcased to the world serves as an alternative to the Western model. His legacy is tied to whether it will be accepted.
Huntsman is the U.S. ambassador to Russia and former U.S. ambassador to China