Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and China’s President Xi Jinping are two of the most powerful rulers in the world. Now, both have moved to extend their hold on power. Last week, Putin announced major constitutional changes that, experts say, will extend his control beyond the end of his term in 2024. Many note the similarity of the move to what Xi did in 2018. That year, Xi had China’s constitution changed to remove term limits on the Chinese head of state. China and Russia have important influence in world events. China is economically strong. Its military is growing quickly in strength. Russia has shown that it is willing to become involved in conflicts such as Syria’s civil war and to influence elections in other countries.