Showing 1 - 10 of 11
What would happen if Khamenei falls?
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 05/01/2026
» The demonstrations began again in Iran last week, only two years after the "Woman, Life, Freedom" movement convulsed the country for months. However, the current protests are potentially much broader than that episode because they are driven by the collapse in Iran's currency, the rial (now 1,420,000 to the US dollar), and the explosive rise in the cost of living.
Trump-era elections in the Anglosphere
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 23/04/2025
» The dictionary defines a "horse whisperer" as "someone who is skilled at training horses using gentle, non-violent methods based on understanding horse behaviour and psychology". By that standard, the only "Trump-whisperer" in Europe is Vladimir Putin (although Hungary's Viktor Orbán and Italy's Giorgia Meloni might get bit parts in the movie).
Trump can't do that much climate damage
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 23/01/2025
» 'Drill, baby, drill", exulted the new President of the World (American branch), but he will find that the oil and gas industry isn't listening. As Darren Woods, CEO of ExxonMobil, tactfully put it in November: "I'm not sure how 'drill, baby, drill' translates into policy."
The unravelling of Burma's military rule
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 19/12/2023
» The Burmese army is a leading candidate for Nastiest Army in the World. Even more than Pakistan's army, it is the tail that wags the dog: rather than the army serving the country, it's the other way around.
Francis not the liberal Pope the world is keen for
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 04/09/2023
» Javier Milei, who is very likely to be elected president of Argentina in the October election, is fairly frank in his view of Pope Francis, a fellow Argentine. He calls Pope Francis "a Communist turd" and "the representative of the Evil One on Earth". Even for a ranter like Mr Milei, who ranks very high on the Trump scale of invective, that's rare praise.
Prigozhin and the aftermath of Russian folly
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 30/06/2023
» 'I said to Putin: 'We could waste [Prigozhin], no problem. If not on the first try, then on the second.' I told him: 'Don't do this'," said Aleksander Lukashenko, long-ruling dictator of Belarus, clearly delighted at having upstaged his arrogant Russian counterpart. The worm had turned, and it was the Russian dictator who needed help.
Risk of imposed ceasefire eases in Ukraine war
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 13/09/2022
» Two months ago, John Bolton wrote an article in The Hill, the leading politics website in Washington, warning against a Russian "October Surprise". He suggested that Russian President Vladimir Putin might suddenly cease military operations and declare a ceasefire -- which would utterly snooker the Ukrainians.
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.
Dismantling Malta's mafia state
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 27/12/2019
» It's two years since Daphne Caruana Galizia, the best investigative journalist in Malta, was killed by a car bomb. She had been using the huge leaks of financial data in the "Panama Papers" to track down suspicious dealings by members of the Maltese government, and she was getting too close for comfort.
30 minutes in Salisbury and two Russians
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 19/09/2018
» Salisbury is a nice old English city with a fine cathedral, only an hour and a half from London by train, but it doesn't see many Russian tourists in wintertime. It's not as cold as Moscow, but Russians tend to prefer Mediterranean destinations for holiday breaks in early March -- unless, of course, they are planning to kill somebody.