Showing 1 - 10 of 13
Zimbabwe and a dose of 'ruling party syndrome'
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 23/08/2023
» 'No one will stop us from ruling this country. You will be lost if you don't vote for Zanu-PF," said President Emmerson Mnangagwa of Zimbabwe. A bit more arrogant than the usual election pitch in most parts of the world, perhaps, but not unusual in Zimbabwe, one of the southern African countries suffering from "ruling party" syndrome.
2 coups (failed) and random speculation
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 13/12/2022
» Could there be anything more ridiculous than last week's failed coup attempt in Peru?
The Quad and the next Cold War with China
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 28/09/2021
» The creation of an Australia-United Kingdom-United States military alliance last week caused a tempest in a teapot, but the real action was elsewhere. In Washington on Friday the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue ("Quad" for short) held its first-ever face-to-face summit, and defined the sides in the great-power confrontation for the next generation.
Taiwan is still in China's web of war games
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 27/01/2021
» Most news agencies reported on Sunday that China sent large groups of fighters and bombers into the Taiwanese airspace two days in a row. Much fluttering in the dovecote: the Chinese are testing the resolve of newly installed US President Joe Biden.
What's going on with Armenia and Azerbaijan?
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 30/09/2020
» It's probably Azerbaijan that started the shooting in this latest round of fighting with neighbouring Armenia. Which is not to say that it's all Azerbaijan's fault.
HK protesters making bad gamble
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 04/10/2019
» After 17 consecutive weekends of increasingly violent protests in Hong Kong, the first protester was wounded by a live bullet on Tuesday. Tsang Chi-kin, an 18-year-old student and one of a group of about a dozen students attacking a policeman who had become separated from his comrades, was shot in the chest as he struck the officer with a metal pole. He is expected to survive.
Bangladesh returns to 1-party state
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 03/01/2019
» It always looks bad when the ruling party jails the opposition leader just a few months before the election. If only Khaleda Zia, leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), had decided to boycott this election like she did the last one, she'd probably still be a free woman. But she decided to run, and so was sentenced to jail time on various implausible corruption charges.
Brexit heads to climax over Irish border
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 03/11/2018
» It was either ignorant or irresponsible for those campaigning for Brexit (British exit from the European Union) two years ago to claim that the Irish border would not be a problem. In fact, it may lead to a catastrophic "no deal" Brexit in which the United Kingdom crashes out of the EU without an agreement of any kind.
Brazil: The hard right wins again
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 10/10/2018
» A man who makes Donald Trump look like a bleeding-heart liberal will almost certainly be Brazil's next president. Jair Bolsonaro won 46% of the vote in Sunday's first round of the Brazilian presidential election, with 12 other candidates running. Fernando Haddad, who will face him alone in the run-off in three weeks' time, got only 29%.
It could be a lot worse in South Africa
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 22/12/2017
» 'We have three gangsters, one suspect, and a president who is prisoner of a Top Six that is clearly compromised," said Zackie Achmat, Aids activist and Nobel Prize nominee, on hearing that Cyril Ramaphosa, a former trade union leader and businessman, had been elected president of South Africa's ruling African National Congress (ANC).