Showing 1 - 10 of 25
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.
Climate effort needs to be more proactive
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 21/07/2025
» Start with China, the world's biggest emitter by far of greenhouse gases: 27% of the entire world's emissions, and more than twice that of the second-biggest emitter, the United States. In fact, it's more than all the emissions of all the other developed countries combined. Bad China.
Netanyahu and Biden: decisions, decisions
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 17/10/2024
» Two weeks ago Iran, in response to Israel's assassinations of the leaders of Hezbollah and Hamas, its most important allies in the Arab world, fired 181 ballistic missiles at Israel. A big and prompt Israeli counterattack was expected, but at the time of writing it has still not happened. Why not?
What now after Israel's invasion of Lebanon?
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 05/10/2024
» Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, has launched his invasion of Lebanon. As usual in the opening stages of Israeli incursions into that fragile country, the signs and portents look good for the Israel Defence Forces (IDF).
A small Slovak assassination bid; few hurt
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 21/05/2024
» Madeleine Albright, the former US Secretary of State, once called Slovakia "the black hole at the heart of Europe", which seems a harsh judgement on five million Slovaks. The assassination attempt on Prime Minister Robert Fico was alarming, but we can narrow the problem down to a more specific group of people.
In Ukraine, the generals are not the problem
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 14/02/2024
» "God is usually on the side of the big battalions," Voltaire allegedly said. Not always, but "usually". So how much do you want to bet?
The fascists are (probably not) coming after all
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 29/01/2024
» ‘Fascism is on the march everywhere!” shrieked the headline on a recent think-piece by my least favourite foreign affairs commentator (who must remain nameless because I don’t want to give him any publicity). But articles and op-eds about the fascist threat are certainly on the march, and occasionally a real fascist pops up in public.
The who and why of Gaza hospital blast
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 21/10/2023
» The blame game has gone into high gear. It started with the massacre perpetrated in Israel two weeks ago by the Islamist Palestinian group Hamas, which has ruled the Gaza Strip for the past 17 years. US President Joe Biden called it "sheer evil", and a chorus of other voices said the same.
2 failed populist coups: Compare and contrast
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 16/01/2023
» Pundits are making much of the similarities between the attempted coup in Washington by Trump supporters two years ago and the one by Bolsonaro supporters in Brasilia on Jan 8, but they are missing the biggest one. These debacles were the most incompetent and half-hearted attempts to seize power illegally in the history of the world.
The benign sociopath that is Elon Musk
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 02/11/2022
» Elon Musk is that rarest of things, a benign sociopath, and therefore a person of considerable value to the world. He has just made a mistake that could ruin his long-term plan, for his purchase of Twitter is almost bound to end in tears. The sharks are always circling the very rich and highly geared, and I find myself worrying about him.