Showing 1 - 10 of 13
Peace on Earth? Democracy everywhere?
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 29/12/2025
» Democracy is in retreat or at least on the defensive almost everywhere, while wars are getting bigger and more frequent. The trend lines are frighteningly bad.
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!"
Bangladesh, Venezuela and democracy
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 09/08/2024
» If all that mattered was economic growth, then prime minister Shaikh Hasina would still be in power. She ruled Bangladesh for 15 continuous years during which the country's income per capita more than tripled. Yet she has been overthrown by the very same students who stood to benefit most from her remarkable economic achievements.
India's election result a surprise for Modi, BJP
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 10/06/2024
» 'Pride goeth before a fall", says the Old Testament, so India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi was just begging for humiliation. It duly arrived.
China: No more being Mister Nice Guy
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 04/01/2022
» More than 200 Hong Kong police raided and shut down one of the last pro-democracy news websites in Hong Kong before on Wed of Dec 29, in the latest sign that the Beijing regime will no longer tolerate dissent of any kind. It was total overkill -- a couple of cops with a court order would have sufficed -- but they were 'sending a message' to other "malcontents".
China and the US: Too big to be equal?
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 15/09/2021
» Never mind the destruction of the relatively free society of Hong Kong (no emergency airlift like in Kabul, Afghanistan, but the number of people fleeing Hong Kong may ultimately be larger). Never mind the persecution of the Uighurs, or the Orwellian surveillance society that the Communist Party is building, or the tens of millions who died in wars, famines and "cultural revolutions" to bring equality to China.
Democracy is default mode of civilisations
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 30/07/2021
» At first I was going to write about the "Arab Problem", because there is not a single functioning democracy in the Arab world. This week's presidential coup in Tunisia has probably ended democracy in the one country that actually achieved it during the "Arab Spring" of 2010-11.
Napoleon and world history: What if...?
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 05/05/2021
» Napoleon Bonaparte doesn't come up much in conversation these days, which is hardly surprising given that he has been dead for two centuries. On the other hand, today will be exactly 200 years since he died, so maybe we could make an exception just this once.
There's nothing special about democracy in US
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 08/01/2021
» If I have to read one more hand-wringing article about the "crisis of American democracy" and what it means for the world, I'm going to retch.
'World Election Week' no cause for celebration
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 25/05/2019
» They don't hold world elections, but this is the week when around a third of the planet's voters get the election results for their country or region. In no case are the results a cause for jubilation.