President Rafael Correa

Third place goes to Serbian President Boris Tadic.  This week, Tadic denied proposing the partition of Kosovo, insisting he only mentioned it as a possibility after all other options were exhausted.  Speaking at a news conference Tadic said official policy remained that Kosovo should enjoy the widest autonomy within Serbia, which does not recognise its independence.  However, experts in Serbia and abroad are considering partition, which might offer a final legal way out of the vexed question. Tadic is in a strong position -- he is popular domestically, the hardline nationalist Radicals are split and the UN vote to refer Kosovo’s declaration of independence to the International Court of Justice in the Hague further boosts him in the region. He may have decided to tackle the Kosovo issue head on.

In second place Pakistani Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, who this week counducted a wide ranging reshuffle of the military command. The reshuffle was not unexpected, since a batch of promotions was looming, but Kayani's control over the military and intelligence apparatus emerges strengthened. The changeover removes Musharraf appointees and has been conducted without apparent civil-military rifts, and may herald a redoubling of efforts in the tribal areas, putting to the test the military's claim that these stand significantly to cut down cross-border attacks affecting eastern Afghanistan.

In first place, Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa. This week, Correa secured a convincing win in the referendum to approve a new constitution.  The new constitution embodies the vision of a single movement, Alianza Pais, and an individual, Correa, who has sidelined critics within his own party who have questioned his actions and methods.  Rafael Correa has built the platform he was seeking for profound change -- and re-election.  There is a danger that he will face a backlash if he fails to deliver at least some of the benefits the new constitution promises.  However, overall the vote is an impressive victory for Correa who can now expect to be in office until 2013.