Rank the 10 most powerful national leaders in the world

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Putin definitely has more internal power over Russia than Hu does over China. I'd definitely agree that right now Putin's at the very least a frontrunner for the single most powerful individual on Earth. If we're ranking individuals by their own power rather than the power of their apparatuses(still taking power deriving from their apparatuses but accruing to them specifically into some account) I would put it a little something like this:

1. Vladimir Putin
2. Abdullah ibn Saud
3. Benedict XVI
4. Barack Obama
5. Angela Merkel
6. Xi Jinping*
7. David Cameron
8. Stephen Harper
9. Francois Hollande
10. Sonia Gandhi**

*Vice President of PR China, presumed next Paramount Leader
**President of the ruling party of India

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

If we're taking Benedict off then everybody below him in my list moves up 1 and number 10 would be Erdoğan.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Netanyahu is on the list because of his popularity and Israel's military/intelligence prowess ability to dictate U.S. policy in the Middle East.

I agree with the rest of your list and the placement of Netanyahu on there... there are many things you can say about Israel, but to imply they don't have "military/intelligence prowess" is a hell of a leap

I think Foucaulf was trying to say that Israel's influence on US policy is more determinative of his ranking of Netanyahu than its military/intelligence prowess, which is undeniable.