Showing 91 - 100 of 475
Is Najib Bukele the world's coolest dictator?
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 07/08/2023
» 'It's not perfect, but it's good. We've done something really good here," said El Salvador's vice-president, Felix Ulloa, defending the government's no-quarter war against the street gangs that have dominated the Central American republic for decades. President Nayib Bukele agrees, calling himself "the instrument of God".
Sahel coups are just another 'Great Game'
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 01/08/2023
» If you are a democratically elected leader in one of Africa's Sahel countries -- let's say, Niger -- and you suspect that the army is plotting to overthrow you, what's the best countermeasure? Should you:
Why won't Putin go to South Africa?
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 27/07/2023
» Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that he won't be going to South Africa for next month's summit of the Brics countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa), although all the other leaders will be there. In fact, another couple of dozen national leaders who want to join the club will also be there. Why is Mr Putin staying away?
Heat waves and tipping points as world warms
Gwynne Dyer, Published on 23/07/2023
» 'What we're seeing is climate impacts that scientists thought would accompany certain temperatures happening far more rapidly, with far more devastating effects than had been forecast," said Dr Simon Nicholson of the Forum for Climate Engineering Assessment at American University.
Boing! The Anthropocene is upon us
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 18/07/2023
» 'I was there when the Anthropocene was born. It was so amazing," said Dr Katherine Richardson, leader of the Sustainability Science Centre at the University of Copenhagen. "It was actually in 2000, at one of these meetings of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme Scientific Steering Committee."
Putin provides a shot in the arm for Nato
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 12/07/2023
» When Nato held its annual summit in Brussels two years ago, all 31 presidents and prime ministers of the alliance’s member states dutifully showed up, but their hearts weren’t really in it. France’s President Emmanuel Macron had publicly declared Nato “brain-dead” in 2019, and nobody could find a good reason to disagree.
Predicting what Israel will do next is easy
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 08/07/2023
» The two-day Israeli military incursion into the Palestinian city of Jenin in the northern West Bank (12 Palestinians killed, one Israeli dead) seems at first glance like just another example of "mowing the lawn". That's what the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) call these periodic futile raids they make to kill some Palestinian fighters.
Unrest stems from France's turbulent past
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 05/07/2023
» On Saturday, the fifth day of violent protests all over France against the police killing of an unarmed teenager, Nahel Merzouk, the daily arrests dropped below 1,000 for the first time, but the violence became even more extreme.
Prigozhin and the aftermath of Russian folly
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 30/06/2023
» 'I said to Putin: 'We could waste [Prigozhin], no problem. If not on the first try, then on the second.' I told him: 'Don't do this'," said Aleksander Lukashenko, long-ruling dictator of Belarus, clearly delighted at having upstaged his arrogant Russian counterpart. The worm had turned, and it was the Russian dictator who needed help.
What Wagner's revolt means to Putin's war
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 26/06/2023
» The Don is a much bigger river than the Rubicon, but Yevgeny Prigozhin and his army crossed it anyway on Friday.