Showing 1 - 9 of 9
The case of the disappearing senior generals
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 10/02/2026
» Armies can be used against both against foreigners abroad and against citizens at home, but the two roles require quite different equipment and tactics. The same applies to their commanders: you need a different kind of general if you think that the primary task of their troops will be controlling dissent at home.
Conflict in Gaza and Kashmir on a parallel track
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 12/05/2025
» There is a striking parallel between the 20-month war in the Gaza Strip and the week-old not-yet-war between India and Pakistan. Both confrontations were set off by horrendously cruel mass murders by terrorists whose goal was obviously to start a war that drew the attention of the world back to their own goals and grievances.
In Russia, the really dangerous ones are sane
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 08/04/2024
» There are plenty of crazies in Russian politics who make bizarre claims about their country's victim status ("the evil West made us do it") and issue blood-curdling but implausible threats about using nuclear weapons on their enemies. But the really dangerous ones are quite sane.
China: Message from Russia on 'reunification'
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 26/08/2023
» The Ukrainians have been cheering themselves up recently by sending drones to hit targets in Moscow's business district and the more exclusive western suburbs. (The Russians, who bomb Ukrainian cities and kill civilians almost every night, refer to this as "terrorism".)
Turkey and its hundred-year culture war
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 12/05/2023
» Turkey's elections are fairly free, and there is going to be one this Sunday. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been in power for two decades, and he should really lose by a landslide. Imagine what the United States would be like if Donald Trump had been in power for 20 years, and that's what Turkey looks like today.
Lebanon quickly sinking in more ways than one
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 21/10/2021
» Off the Lebanese coast about 60 kilometres north of Beirut a 104-metre battleship stands vertically, with her bow and some 30 metres of her length plunged into the mud. The seabed is 140 metres down, but you can even scuba-dive on the stern if you are a technical diver. The ship is a bit like Lebanon, for reasons I'll explain later.
Objective allies: Netanyahu and Hamas militants
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 14/05/2021
» 'Objective allies' generally don't even talk to each other. They don't have common values, their ultimate goals may be completely incompatible, they often hate each other. But they share some intermediate goal, and are clever enough to realise they can both get what they want by acting together in certain ways.
Happy ending if US strikes Iran? Not a chance
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 15/05/2019
» US President Donald Trump is well known for his desire to cut American military commitments overseas. Indeed, it is one of his most attractive characteristics. But his attention span is short, he plays a lot of golf, and he does not have the knack of choosing good advisers.
Iran protests not the same as those before
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 03/01/2018
» 'The people behind what is taking place think they will be able to harm the government," said Iran's First Vice-President, Eshaq Jahangiri. "But when social movements and protests start in the street, those who have ignited them are not always able to control them." And the question is: which people did Mr Jahangiri actually mean, and which government?