Showing 1 - 10 of 46
Nato 1.0 is dead. Long live Nato 2.0
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 17/02/2026
» Every year about this time, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato), the world's most powerful alliance for the past 77 years, holds a conference in Munich to examine its state of health.
Somaliland: Mixed motivations
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 03/01/2026
» Last week Israel was the first country in the world to establish diplomatic relations with Somaliland. Not Somalia, a wreck of a country on the East African coast that has been mired in civil war for the past thirty-five years, but Somaliland, a different country just north of there that has been peaceful, relatively prosperous and even democratic for all those years.
A lesson in geoengineering for grown-ups
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 18/12/2025
» A few days ago the European Union's Earth Observation programme, "Copernicus", made a special announcement at the end of its monthly report on the state of the climate. It said that the average global temperature for the past three years (2023-2025) has been 1.5 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial level. That's the level we were warned that we must never exceed.
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.
Kingdom of Denmark vs the Shadow Fleet
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 25/10/2025
» Back in the 16th and 17th centuries, two-thirds of the Danish kingdom's income came from taxes paid by every ship passing through the Øresund ('The Sound') Strait, the only exit from the Baltic Sea. Each ship had to declare its cargo -- and if the Danes thought they were undervaluing it, Denmark had the right to buy it at the declared price.
What went so wrong in Latin America?
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 18/10/2025
» Javier Milei, the Elon Musk wannabe who became president of Argentina two years ago, chainsaw in hand, is now in deep trouble with the voters, and the mid-term elections are due this month. He has the same political agenda as Donald Trump, give or take a folly or two, so he asked his populist big brother for help, and Mr Trump delivered.
Here's a taste of things to come in the US
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 02/10/2025
» 'Predictions are hard, especially about the future' (Danish proverb), but still we make them, especially when we care about the future. Here are some about the future of the United States in the next three and a bit years, expressed as probabilities, although you should not trust the numbers.
Congo: Where the tail is still wagging the dog
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 26/03/2025
» 'Joseph Kabila boycotted the election and is preparing an insurrection because he is the AFC," said President Félix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of Congo last October, and lo! It is coming to pass just as he predicted. But you can't tell the players without a programme, so a little bit of explanation first.
Different kinds of thieves with the same goal
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 18/02/2025
» What's the difference between smash-and-grab raids and protection rackets? Not all that much from the legal point of view, but protection rackets have a lower level of risk and a higher rate of returns.
Will there be a ceasefire in Ukraine now?
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 15/02/2025
» It's taking Donald Trump a little longer than the 24 hours he said he would need to end Russia's war in Ukraine, but his 90-minute phone call with Vladimir Putin on Wednesday comes as no surprise.