#Winners and #Losers - October 30, 2016

My weekly retrospective on who won and lost around the world.

Another Week in Leaked Goldman Sachs Transcripts

Winner: Goldman Sachs—first Hillary Clinton, now UK Prime Minister Theresa May. If you want to hear what politicians really think, turns out all you have to do is get them in a GS conference room. 

 Loser: Theresa May—revealed that May is just as opportunistic as the next politician. Instead of giving voice to her true thoughts on Brexit (i.e. that it’s a mistake) in the run-up to the referendum, she kept mum to position herself as David Cameron’s replacement. Almost makes Boris Johnson look good.

Last-Minute Endorsements

Winner: Former Republican Secretary of State Colin Powell—finally admits he’s going to vote for Hillary Clinton. At a speaking event for the Long Island Association. #BetterLateThanNever

Loser: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani—says this week that the choice offered to US voters was between “bad and worse.” True, but not cool. #OnlyWeGetToSayThat

Refugees Around The World

Winners: Refugees in Thailand—the political situation in neighboring Myanmar is finally improving, so this week 68 refugees volunteered to move back to Myanmar from Thailand, a move the UN hailed as “monumental.” 68 down, about 100,000 left to go.

Loser: Refugees in France—French authorities shut down the Calais “jungle” this week, where up to 10,000 Syrian and North African refugees were living. They’ll now be dispersed throughout the French countryside. Needless to say, the French people aren’t too happy with the development. Neither are the refugees. #SoLongAsEveryonesUnhappy

 Famous Poster Children

Winner: Patient Zero, aka Gaetan Dugas—the French Canadian flight attendant blamed for setting off the American AIDS epidemic in the 1970s was exonerated this week when research showed that the viral strain existed in New York City prior to his arrival.

 Loser: Afghan Girl, aka Sharbat Gula—the girl who graced the iconic cover of 1985’s National Geographic was arrested in Pakistan this week for carrying an illegal ID. About one million Afghans in Pakistan are believed to hold false identity cards so they won’t get deported. #NoRestForTheWeary

The Week in Pirates

Winner: Icelandic Pirates—The Pirate Party in Iceland, a political party founded four years ago by activists, anarchists and hackers, look set to run the table on a platform of government transparency and drug decriminalization following this weekend’s general election #NotTheArrYoureUsedTo 

Loser: Somali Pirates—released 26 hostages this week after almost five years in captivity, which is only the second-longest Somali pirates have held hostages. By a few weeks. #SoClose

Ian Bremmer is president of Eurasia Group, foreign affairs columnist at TIME and Global Research Professor at New York University. You can also follow him on Twitter and Facebook.