Showing 1 - 10 of 30
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.
World leaders are destroying the rule of law
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 01/12/2025
» Russia's "big concession is they stop fighting, and they don't take any more land," US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday, when asked what Russia was conceding in the thinly disguised surrender document he was trying to shove down Ukrainian throats. He truly is a 19th-century man at heart.
Can Ukraine survive Trump presidency?
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 21/05/2025
» We are getting very close to the point where Donald Trump realises that his dear friend, Vladimir Putin, has been playing him for a fool. The Russian president never had the slightest intention of moderating his war aims, which include the annexation of much of Ukraine and the demotion of the rest to the status of a puppet state.
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.
War: two steps forward, two steps back?
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 13/02/2025
» In classical civilisations, there was a continuing, unresolved debate about whether history moved forward or just went around in circles: was it linear or was it cyclical? But that debate was largely settled once human beings learned about their deeper past. It's linear.
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.
Next chapter in Thailand's political saga
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 22/08/2024
» 'I consult with my father on all issues, whether on private matters or about work, and have done since I was young," said Paetongtarn Shinawatra, Thailand's new and youngest prime minister at 38 years of age. She is the third member of the Shinawatra family to hold this office, and part of the "evil cycle" that has paralysed the country's politics for the past 18 years.
COP summits must persist, despite failures
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 14/12/2023
» The key debate on the last day of the COP28 climate summit was about whether or not the conference should endorse a resolution to "phase out" fossil fuels -- or, in a less ambitious formulation, phase them "down" (but not out).
Thailand: Back around in the circle again?
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 02/05/2023
» There have been occasional violent episodes in Thai politics and one recent massacre (2010), but the struggle for a genuine democracy has usually been relatively restrained. Maybe that is why it has lasted so long.
US startup's climate gig stirs up controversy
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 06/01/2023
» It was the moral equivalent of a fart in a hurricane. The "hurricane" was the explosion of the Mount Pinatubo volcano in the Philippines in 1991, which boosted 17 million tonnes of sulphur dioxide into the stratosphere.