Showing 1 - 10 of 65
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.
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?"
Musk's Starship: If it sounds too good to be true...
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 06/12/2025
» Elon Musk promised to build a spaceship that would put people and cargo into Earth orbit at one-hundredth of the current cost per kilo and even enable human beings to create a colony on Mars. A great many people were seduced by the idea, including me.
How a bad Trump edit became a global controversy
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 14/11/2025
» I have spent thousands of hours sitting alongside video editors working on productions quite similar to the Panorama documentary that has landed the British Broadcasting Corporation with the threat of a billion-dollar libel suit by Donald Trump. I think I know what happened.
Symbolic acts won't create a real Palestine
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 25/09/2025
» Ten more countries are recognising Palestine as a sovereign state in the course of this week. That brings the total up from 147 to 157. It's a big deal to an extent because for the first time it includes quite a few big, rich Western countries (France, the UK, Canada and Australia). But it is not unified, and it still controls no territory.
EU leaders must master Trump management
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 19/08/2025
» It's like one of those slapstick comedies from the early days of silent films: the "Keystone Cops" movies, perhaps, or Buster Keaton's various efforts. Lots of people rushing around, constant reversals of fortune, and many pratfalls.
Too long in power a bad idea for leaders
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 01/07/2025
» Leading an entire country for a few years is a steep learning curve, but it's useful experience. Being in power for a dozen years makes most leaders arrogant and careless, but some remain more or less functional. Being in power for more than 30 years just makes you stupid. Consider Cambodia's Hun Sen and Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
We've all seen this war game play out before
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 20/06/2025
» I've seen this movie already. I don't want to see it again."They lied," said Donald Trump in 2016, running for the Republican presidential nomination against the neo-cons in his own party who had started the "forever wars" in Afghanistan and Iraq. "They said there were weapons of mass destruction. There were none. And they knew there were none."
Time to combat ignorance to save the Earth
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 13/12/2024
» More than half the world's people (4.3 billion) own smartphones, and practically everybody has access to one. All the information in the world is available to everybody. Yet willful ignorance and superstition still flourish.
Why I yelled at the TV during Harris's speech
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 28/08/2024
» When you find yourself shouting at the TV, you know it's time to take a break. I reached that point last week, watching Kamala Harris's acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention, and what I yelled at the screen was, "The enemy is us!"