Just two years ago Asiaweek ranked him the region's most powerful person. In Indonesia there used to be no one but Suharto. Now people want anyone but Suharto. His fall from grace was so quick it surprised even his most enduring critics. The president's authority is so diminished, and the situation in Indonesia so volatile, that Suharto fell right off this year's list.
Power is fragile, especially when in the hands of just one person.
Twenty others dropped from our ranking too. Throughout Asia, leadership has never been so critical or so difficult. First because of the crisis, then because of the Fund. The IMF's influence is unmatched. But the Fund is the only one with the authority, some would say arrogance, to require nations in crisis to reform their entire economic systems in a matter of months.