Showing 1 - 10 of 59
Fanatics, an obsessive, and a belligerent fool
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 07/04/2026
» We don't have to look very far to find a useful historical analogy for the current crisis in the Middle East. In 1967, Egypt closed the Strait of Tiran to Israeli ships, and Israel replied with a surprise air attack that destroyed almost the entire Egyptian air force on the ground.
The fire this time is for US climate science
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 18/03/2026
» In 1953 Ray Bradbury, an American writer, published a book entitled simply Fahrenheit 451. It was a novel about an American fireman in a not-too-distant future who realised that he was doing his job all wrong -- because his job was to burn books, which were banned in that future America. (451°F is the temperature at which paper catches fire.)
Forget Canada. Better invade Venezuela first!
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 29/10/2025
» Question: Why do some Canadians want Mr Trump to invade Venezuela?
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.
Theatre of white refugees from South Africa
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 16/05/2025
» As my flight landed in South Africa on Sunday, I looked in vain for the plane that was due to take off with the first 49 white, Afrikaans-speaking "refugees" of the many thousands who are supposedly going to find safety from racist persecution in Donald Trump's United States.
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).
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.
Unpunished crimes, except Duterte's maybe
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 18/03/2025
» Everybody has heard the saying: "The mills of justice grind slowly, but they grind exceeding fine". The saying is a promise that all crimes will eventually be punished -- but it is a lie.
First as tragedy, then as farce: that's Trump
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 03/03/2025
» Hegel wrote that "all great world-historic facts and personages appear twice." It was Karl Marx who said that Hegel forgot to add that these repeating events happen "first as tragedy, then as farce." You know, like Adolf Hitler and Donald Trump.
No place on earth is worse off than Sudan
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 25/11/2024
» There are wars in the world worse than those in Ukraine and Gaza. The war in Sudan is insanely cruel and stupid, but you hardly hear anything about it. Why not? Because, like me, other journalists hate writing about it and avoid doing so if they can.