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Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck

King of Bhutan

Date of birth: Feb. 21, 1980

Assumed power on: Dec. 14, 2006

How he got to the top: His father handed him the position.

In a benevolent effort to move his Switzerland-sized Himalayan kingdom of 600,000 from a monarchy to a democracy, his father—the previous king—abdicated in December 2006 and passed the throne to “Prince Jigme,” who fittingly has a master’s degree in politics from Oxford University. The Land of the Thunder Dragon became the world’s newest democracy in March when Bhutanese went to the polls for the first time ever to elect a 47-seat National Assembly. The handsome king will remain as the country’s head of state, but he is committed to guiding Bhutan’s democratization.

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Roosevelt Skerrit

Prime Minister of Dominica

Date of birth: June 8, 1972

Assumed power on: Jan. 8, 2004

How he got to the top: The right person died at the right time.

After earning degrees in English and psychology from the University of Mississippi and New Mexico State University, respectively, Skerrit became an instructor at a Dominican community college. Elected to Dominica’s parliament in 2000, he eventually became the education minister of the poor Caribbean country. When former Prime Minister Pierre Charles abruptly died from an apparent heart attack, Skerrit was selected by his Dominica Labor Party to replace him. Shortly thereafter, he revoked his country’s recognition of Taiwan and established formal relations with China. The Chinese government had offered $122 million in aid, about $1,700 per Dominican.

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Joseph Kabila

President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Date of birth: June 4, 1971

Assumed power on: Jan. 26, 2001

How he got to the top: His father was killed.

Father Laurent Kabila, the previous president, was assassinated by his bodyguard in 2001, and the younger Kabila—described as soft-spoken and reserved—became his successor. A former guerrilla fighter who trained in China and spent a decade in the military campaign that ousted dictator Mobutu Sese Seko in 1997, Joseph Kabila made history in 2006 when he won the DRC’s presidential election and became his country’s first democratically elected leader since independence in 1960. The elections have brought relative stability to the country after decades of war, and during Kabila’s tenure, the DRC has entered into lucrative mining deals with foreign investors.

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Nikola Gruevski

Prime Minister of Macedonia

Date of birth: Aug. 31, 1970

Assumed power on: Aug. 27, 2006

How he got to the top: His party won parliamentary elections.

Gruevski, a former amateur boxer who earned a master’s degree in economics in 2006, has a résumé that includes president and founder of the Broker’s Association of the Republic of Macedonia (1998), minister of trade (1998 to 1999), and minister of finance (1999 to 2002). He became a member of Parliament in 2002 and has been head of the center-right VMRO-DPMNE party since 2003. When the VRMO-DPMNE won the 2006 parliamentary elections, Gruevski was asked to form a new government. His party claimed victory in parliamentary elections in June that were marred by violence in ethnically Albanian areas.

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Marcus Stephen

President of Nauru

Date of birth: Oct. 1, 1969

Assumed power on: Dec. 19, 2007

How he got to the top: His predecessor received a no-confidence vote.

Stephen is strong—literally. He competed in the 1992, 1996, and 2000 Olympics as a weightlifter and won 12 medals in the Commonwealth Games between 1990 and 2002. His most impressive performance was lifting 172.5 kg (380 lbs.) in the 62 kg (137 lb.) weight class in the 1999 world championships. On a Pacific island of 14,000, that made the 160 cm (5-foot-3-inch) Stephen a national hero. He was elected to Parliament in 2003, and when the 18-member body gave former President Ludwig Scotty a no-confidence vote last year, Stephen was sworn in. His tenure has been stormy.

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Mswati III

King of Swaziland

Date of birth: April 19, 1968

Assumed power on: April 25, 1986

How he got to the top: His father, the previous king, died.

Mswati was crowned king a mere six days after his 18th birthday, and the country has been a train wreck ever since. An estimated 26 percent of Swazis between ages 15 and 49 are HIV positive, one of the highest rates in the world. Mswati’s brilliant solution: a sex ban. In 2001, he instated the uncwasho rite, which put a five-year ban on sex for females under 18. The move proved unpopular, especially after Mswati—who at last count had 13 wives and at least 23 children—married a 17-year-old. The ban was lifted a year early.