--- description: From Canadian elections to Eastern European culture, the best things written this week on the world title: The science behind Trudeau and other takes on the week image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [international relations](/tag/international-relations/) ## international relations Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # This Week's Foreign Policy Must Reads (23 Oct 2015)  by [Ian Bremmer](/author/ian-bremmer/)  ## Ian Bremmer Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 23, 2015 11:00 PM CUT  by [Ian Bremmer](/author/ian-bremmer/)  ## Ian Bremmer Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 23, 2015 11:00 PM CUT **The smartest things written about the world this week.** [**You’re Not Supposed to Understand the Federal Reserve**](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/25/magazine/youre-not-supposed-to-understand-the-federal-reserve.html?action=click&contentCollection=magazine®ion=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=6&pgtype=sectionfront&%5Fr=0 "undefined") **— Adam Davidson, New York Times Magazine** --- > “” --- Agreed. But a word of warning: If politicians can politicize the work of the Supreme Court, they can certainly do the same with the Federal Reserve, where consequential decisions are made in private and announced in public. [**How Stephen Harper’s Islamophobic Gambit Backfired and Lost Him the Election in Canada**](http://www.vox.com/2015/10/20/9570301/stephen-harper-niqab-canada "undefined") **— Matthew Yglesias, Vox** --- > “” --- Ironic that Harper tried to make the case that Canada should change immigrants rather than allow immigrants to change Canada in an election against Justin Trudeau, whose father made the exact opposite argument a crucial part of Canada’s political identity. Pierre Trudeau’s “mosaic” lives on. [**Why is the American Military So Bad at Teaching Others How to Fight?**](http://www.slate.com/articles/news%5Fand%5Fpolitics/war%5Fstories/2015/10/the%5Famerican%5Fmilitary%5Fis%5Fbad%5Fat%5Fteaching%5Fothers%5Fhow%5Fto%5Ffight.html "undefined")**—** **Fred Kaplan, Slate** --- > “” --- It may also be that Americans are short-sighted enough to expect others to fight like Americans. [**Is Eastern Europe Any More Xenophobic Than Western Europe?**](http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/10/xenophobia-eastern-europe-refugees/410800/ "undefined") **— Heather Horn, The Atlantic** --- > “” --- There is xenophobia in every country in the world, but some of the Europeans fearful of the impact of the migrants have much more practical concerns, worries that can and should be frankly addressed by Europe’s elected leaders. That’s as true in the east as in the west. [**The Doctor**](https://read.atavist.com/the-doctor "undefined") **— James Verini, The Atavist** --- > “” --- Thankfully, some are still willing to try to change the world one wounded human being at a time. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4085015/this-weeks-foreign-policy-must-reads-7/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4085015/this-weeks-foreign-policy-must-reads-7/"},"headline":"This Week's Foreign Policy Must Reads (23 Oct 2015)","datePublished":"2015-10-23T23:00:15.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-26T19:57:47.806Z","description":"From Canadian elections to Eastern European culture, the best things written this week on the world","url":"https://time.com/4085015/this-weeks-foreign-policy-must-reads-7/","keywords":["international relations","Military","Iraq","Refugees","Canada","World"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ian Bremmer","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/ian-bremmer/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/international-relations/","name":"international relations"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4085015/this-weeks-foreign-policy-must-reads-7/","name":"This Week's Foreign Policy Must Reads (23 Oct 2015)"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"What should the world do about the migrant crisis?","description":"What should the world do about the migrant crisis?","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/bjKLptmo/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-10-08T16:28:53.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/bjKLptmo.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4085015/this-weeks-foreign-policy-must-reads-7/","duration":"PT1M32S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4085015/this-weeks-foreign-policy-must-reads-7/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```