Showing 1 - 10 of 10
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.
Musk, Trump and Mao have a lot in common
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 11/07/2025
» The only place where some people still see Elon Musk as a political genius is China. "Brother Musk, you've got over a billion people on our side backing you," wrote a fan on Weibo, China's biggest social media site. "If Elon Musk were to found a political party," wrote another, "his tech-driven mindset could inject fresh energy into politics."
Charting China's decline, at a slow pace
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 11/12/2023
» For several years now, I have had a file on my computer named "China -- has the moment arrived?" But I think I missed the moment -- or rather I forgot that these things aren't a moment, they're a process.
The battle to destroy the whistleblowers
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 06/10/2021
» A long time ago now I was asked to do a television series about the world's intelligence services -- and I turned it down flat. My main reason was a feeling that there was less to the whole intelligence world than met the eye, and the subsequent 30 years have only served to confirm that judgement.
After Merkel, who will fill her 'sensible shoes'?
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 25/09/2021
» Last January Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) were ahead in the German opinion polls by 15 points. She was stepping down after 16 years as chancellor (prime minister), but she was still by far the most trusted politician in Germany. Indeed, she is universally known as "Mutti" ("Mummy").
Belarus: An unexpected opportunity
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 27/05/2021
» Poland's Prime Minister Mateus Morawiecki has condemned the "hijacking" of the Ryanair jet on the orders of Belarus's President Alexander Lukashenko, accusing him of a "reprehensible act of state terrorism".
Vladimir Putin, Navalny and Thomas à Becket
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 25/08/2020
» In 20 years of writing about Russia's President Vladimir Putin -- he was completely obscure before 1999 -- I have never before had reason to mention him and Saint Thomas à Becket in the same sentence. Finally, however, the time has come.
Migrants: The borders are closing
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 21/06/2018
» There are actually fewer migrants crossing the Mediterranean and landing in European Union countries this year than in any other recent year: only 37,000 so far, although the flow will increase with good summer weather. But they are nevertheless the "last straw" as far as some EU countries are concerned. Patience is running out.
Iran nuclear deal not perfect, but better than nothing
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 01/05/2018
» It is generally agreed that a bird in the hand is worth two (or three, or more) in the bush. President Trump, however, does not see it that way.
Muslims do fit in, though more slowly
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 30/04/2018
» 'Every Continental [European] under the age of 40 -- make that 60, if not 75 -- is all but guaranteed to end his days living in an Islamified Europe," wrote polemicist Mark Steyn in 2006. "Native populations on the continent are aging and fading and being supplanted remorselessly by a young Muslim demographic."