Showing 1 - 10 of 12
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.
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.
The air war: plywood and Styrofoam
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 20/09/2025
» 'Nato is responding with unity and strength," said British defence secretary John Healey. "If you've got drones that are putting Polish lives at risk, then Nato will take them out. There's no firm confirmation on intent, but in the end that's not the point. It's still reckless. It's still dangerous."
Indonesian poll serves up a curious outcome
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 20/02/2024
» Indonesia's President Joko Widodo concluded his second five-year term last Tuesday with a national election in which his chosen successors won a convincing victory. "Jokowi", as everybody calls him, still enjoys 70% public approval, and he has every right to be proud of his past.
ICJ's efforts to build rule of law must continue
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 31/01/2024
» Israel's defence minister, Yoav Gallant, dismissed the ruling by the International Court of Justice in The Hague on the accusation that Israel is committing genocide in the Gaza Strip with the words "Hague Schmague". US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was equally dismissive, saying that the case brought before the ICJ by South Africa was "meritless".
Schrödinger's Island: Taiwan election 2024
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 12/01/2024
» Taiwan's fate is as unknowable as usual, even though we know who the next president will be. The Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) William Lai, vice-president under outgoing President Tsai Ing-Wen, will almost certainly win the election tomorrow because the two opposition parties failed to agree on a joint candidate and will split the slightly-less-anti-China vote between them.
Have we solved the floaty-bag problem?
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 17/02/2023
» The United States has been having "a bit of a floaty-bag problem over its airspace", as South Africa's Daily Maverick news site put it.
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".
Taiwan is still in China's web of war games
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 27/01/2021
» Most news agencies reported on Sunday that China sent large groups of fighters and bombers into the Taiwanese airspace two days in a row. Much fluttering in the dovecote: the Chinese are testing the resolve of newly installed US President Joe Biden.
Turkey's anxious Erdogan takes on the world
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 06/02/2020
» Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is not an "Islamist", in the extreme sense of the word. He doesn't wear a suicide vest, he doesn't behead people, he doesn't even go around holding one finger up in the air to signify his hatred of those who fail to acknowledge the One True God. But he certainly does like the Islamists a lot.