US expert lists Ilham Aliyev among world's top impactful leaders
Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev has been listed among the world’s 15 most influential leaders by prominent U.S. national security expert James Jay Carafano.
"Today's list of Top RISING, impactful world leaders, Milei, Meloni, Kast, Stubb, Modi, Takaichi, Nawrocki, Dans, Aliyev, Mohammed VI of Morocco, Zelenskyy, Netanyahu, and Merz and in a league of his own: Donald Trump," Carafano wrote on X, News.Az reports.
Today’s list of Top RISING, impactful world leaders, Milei, Meloni, Kast, Stubb, Modi, Takaichi, Nawrocki, Dans, Aliyev, Mohammed VI
— James Jay Carafano (@JJCarafano) March 12, 2026
of Morocco, Zelenskyy, Netanyahu, and Merz and in a league of his own: @realDonaldTrump
Carafano serves as the director of the Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy Studies and vice president of the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for International Studies at The Heritage Foundation. He has testified before the United States Congress as an expert on defense, intelligence, and homeland security, and leads Heritage’s initiatives against antisemitism, including the Esther Project.
By Nijat Babayev





