Showing 1 - 10 of 19
It could take 1 Danish soldier in Greenland
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 23/01/2026
» In 1910, Henry Wilson, the British army officer charged with planning for a possible war with Germany, visited the French officer doing the same job in Paris, Ferdinand Foch. The Anglo-French alliance was still a tentative, semi-secret thing, so Wilson asked Foch, "What is the smallest British military force that would be of any practical assistance to you?"
Three hours in Greenland and plenty of bluster
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 02/04/2025
» 'We need to wake up from a failed, 40-year consensus that said we could ignore the encroachment of powerful countries as they expand their ambitions," said US Vice-President JD Vance during his brief visit to the US military base at Pituffik in northern Greenland. (It was brief because the Greenland authorities wouldn't let Mr Vance go anywhere else.)
'Flooding the zone' will likely backfire
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 22/02/2025
» The planning for a hard-right takeover of the United States federal government was detailed and meticulous, and its execution by Elon Musk and his young Silicon Valley stormtroopers was ruthless and mostly successful. They did indeed "move fast and break things", notably in gaining illegal access to the Department of Treasury payments system by sheer intimidation.
'Bibi' and the International Criminal Court
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 27/11/2024
» The indictment of Israel's prime minister, Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu, and former defence minister Yoav Gallant by the International Criminal Court on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza has triggered a great deal of public moralising, both pro and con. Almost all of it is missing the point.
The utility of neutrality, now in steep decline
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 02/03/2024
» Neutrality used to be a European thing, but it is now in steep decline. If it were an animal, we'd have to declare it an endangered species.
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.
Can insurance come to our climate rescue?
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 09/06/2023
» California's fall from grace has been steep and swift, and now even the insurance companies are pulling out. The two biggest American home insurance companies, State Farm and Allstate, announced last week that they will stop selling insurance policies to Californians. Why? Climate change-related wildfires are making it too risky to insure Californian houses.
Ukraine: Will Western tanks bring victory?
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 31/01/2023
» On Tuesday last week, they reset the Doomsday Clock to 90 seconds before midnight. How did they know that Germany would agree to give Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine on Wednesday? Now we're all doomed! No time to run! Ninety seconds is barely time to tuck your head between your knees and kiss goodbye.
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?
Cuban missile crisis redux in Nicaragua?
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 06/07/2022
» It was a piece of news so obscure and implausible that I missed it when it first surfaced last month. The news was that the Russians are going to put hypersonic nuclear missiles into Nicaragua and terrify the Americans into backing down over Ukraine. Or kill them all if they don't.