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Jacques René Chirac - France

Chirac became the most powerful French president in recent history when he was elected for a second seven-year term in 2002. During his curatorship, he has led France to become the most prominent country in the EU.

He has steadfastly opposed President Bush and the Iraq War, and has become a major player with the Arab nations, who percieve him as a more receptive and diplomatic alternative. His country has angrily been written off as 'old Europe' by certain US politicians, furious at his refusal to give leeway to the American President. His people have been called 'cowardly' and 'ungrateful' by sectors of the media, irritated that France does not follow the lead of minnows like Spain and Poland.

Maybe the worst thing to swallow for some is that he will still be his country's leader up to 2009, long after G W Bush has mosied off into the sunset.

Gerhard Fritz Kurt Schröder  - Germany

Schröder was elected to a second four-year term as German Chancellor in 2002. His leadership is credited with many tax reforms, although unemployment has become a problem for his administration.

He spoke strongly against the war on Iraq during 2003, and denied any military assistance - which has given rise to political mudslinging between the USA and Germany, as Germany was considered one of the most important and intimate allies since the end of World War II. It is one of life's ironies that Schröder was good friends with the previous US President, Bill Clinton.

Schröder's opposition to the war had multiple reasons, one of which was that the German constitution prohibited entering a war as an aggressor. Having miraculously survived a snub from President Bush, he is at present still being portrayed in American media as incompetent and corrupt.

Guy Verhofstadt  - Belgium

Another two-term leader, Verhofstadt was elected as Belgium's Prime Minister in 1999 and again in 2003.

He joined his European neighbours in opposition to the Iraq War and introduced the law of 'Universal Competence' (also known as the "genocide law"), which gave Belgian judges the authority to sentence non-Belgians (including American citizens) accused of crimes against humanity.

The American government pressured for the abolishment of this law. Unofficially, there were threats to remove NATO headquarters from Brussels, which was widely seen as a vengeance for Belgium's opposition against the invasion of Iraq. The Belgian government eventually watered down the "genocide law".

Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin  - Russia

For a man who has privately admitted that he was “not a politician”, this former KGB Colonel has led Russia with a strong hand since becoming acting president in 1999 and then elected president in 2000. An expert in sambo, a Russian sport that combines judo and wrestling, he has a vigorous leadership that reflects his energetic lifestyle (he is a tee-totaller).

He cautioned the United States against "imperial ambitions", and said the US-led invasion of Iraq bypassing the UN Security Council was unjustified. Even though he said he backed the US in its global combat against terrorism, Putin stated: "In all the periods of the history of mankind the countries with imperial ambitions always suffered from a number of problems, which softly speaking, complicated their situation - these were their sense of invulnerability, sense of greatness and sense of infallibility. I earnestly hope, that this will not happen with our American partners." 

Not scared of confrontation, he gave Tony Blair a humiliating and very public rebuff on Blair's visit in April 2003, when he mocked the possibility that weapons of mass destruction existed in Iraq. He challenged Blair's vision of a new world strategic partnership, arguing it would be unacceptable for the US to dominate the international community. Putin was re-elected in 2004.

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Copyright © Federal Bureau December 2003