GOVERNMENT

Abdel Fattah el-Sisi

President of Egypt

A former field marshal in his country's army, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has been a critical factor in Middle Eastern stability since he overthrew the Muslim Brotherhood regime of Mohamed Morsi in 2013. A pragmatic leader aligned with the West, el-Sisi has cooperated strongly with Israel in maintaining the blockade of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. El-Sisi is also a firm ally of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and the other Gulf Arab states in their confrontation with Iran. In November 2017, el-Sisi warned Tehran to scale back its regional interference, saying, "the region has enough instability and challenges as it is: We don't need any new complications involving Iran or Hezbollah." Domestically, however, el-Sisi's poor human rights record has been widely condemned by rights groups and Western democratic governments, including the US. (Photo: Russian Presidential Press and Information Office.)