Originally published by Ian Bremmer on LinkedIn: This Week's #Winners and #Losers
My weekly look back on who won and lost around the world.
Strangers in a Strange Land: Russia Edition
Winner: Steven Seagal—the former Hollywood “actor” was awarded Russian citizenship this week; he’s gone on record saying that Vladimir Putin is “one of the great living world leaders.” “One of the greats?” asks Putin. #OnDeadlyGround
Loser: Amnesty International—on Wednesday, Amnesty staffers arrived at their Moscow offices to find themselves locked out. The Kremlin is serious about cracking down on human rights groups which it considers to be “foreign agents.” Lucky they didn’t have to deal with Seagal. #TheHeavyHand
The Week in Ridiculously Low Approval Ratings
Winner: UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon—the South Korean diplomat has long been criticized as a bland, uninspired leader. With his upcoming retirement from the UN in January, he’s likely considering a run for president in South Korea next year. He’ll look much more appealing when standing next to the current South Korean president, who has been forced this week to deny holding cult rituals in the presidential residence and is polling at 5%. #BlandNeverLookedSoGood
Loser: French President Francoise Hollande—he is currently polling at 4%. When the president of South Korea is accused of joining a cult and still has a higher approval rating than you, it’s time to roll the credits. #Fin
Paying The Bills
Winner: Egypt—devalued the Egyptian Pound by 48% and then floated it freely, a move that paves the way for a $12 billion dollar loan from the IMF and pulls it back from the economic abyss. Painful, but necessary. #HopeFloats
Loser: Venezuela—you know inflation is bad when shopkeepers start weighing the currency instead of counting it. #PoundsNeverLookedSoGood
Questionable Purchases
Winner: A woman in China—a woman in China has reportedly put a down-payment on a house by selling 20 brand new iPhone 7s. That were gifted to her. By her 20 different boyfriends. #DontHateThePlaya
Loser: A man in Dubai—a man in Dubai has reportedly purchased a license plate for $9 million dollars. On the plate? A single number: “5”. The same man paid $6.7 million dollars last year for a license plate with the number “9”. #MoreDollarsThanSense
Ian Bremmer is president of Eurasia Group, foreign affairs columnist at TIME and Global Research Professor at New York University. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook.