Most Powerful

• #1 Muammar Gaddafi
  Libya Party State ControlPolitical Cold War and Globalization State Power Power: 100
  Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al‑Gaddafi (born 1942 – 20 October 2011) was a Libyan military officer and political leader who ruled Libya for more than four decades after a 1969 coup overthrew King Idris I. He rejected conventional state titles in later years, presenting himself as a “guide” of a revolutionary system that claimed to replace formal government with popular rule. In practice, Gaddafi built a highly centralized and personalist regime that relied on security services, loyal military units, and revolutionary committees to manage politics, suppress rivals, and direct the distribution of oil wealth. His rule was marked by ambitious social programs and major infrastructure projects as well as severe repression, regional interventions, and international controversies involving militant movements and alleged state-sponsored violence. In 2011 a nationwide uprising and civil war ended his government, and he was killed after the fall of his remaining strongholds.