Showing 1 - 10 of 15
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.
Syria receives another chance with Assad gone
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 10/12/2024
» Take a moment, first, to celebrate the fall of a regime of surpassing evil even by the demanding standards of the Middle East. Father and son, the Assad regime oppressed and abused the Syrian people for 53 years, and now it is gone in a week. Even the American-backed puppet regime in Afghanistan did not fall that fast.
The world is headed towards uncharted waters
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 17/09/2024
» No sirens are blaring, nobody even looks frightened, but they should be. Last week, the world moved into uncharted territory. The "aspirational" goal of never allowing the average global temperature to rise more than 1.5 degrees Celsius higher than the pre-industrial norm (+1.5C) has been breached for a whole year -- and probably forever.
The utility of neutrality, now in steep decline
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 02/03/2024
» Neutrality used to be a European thing, but it is now in steep decline. If it were an animal, we'd have to declare it an endangered species.
Gaza: The ones bombed and their bombers
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 22/12/2023
» Yesterday, the known death toll of Palestinians in Gaza since Oct 7 reached 20,000.
Unrest stems from France's turbulent past
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 05/07/2023
» On Saturday, the fifth day of violent protests all over France against the police killing of an unarmed teenager, Nahel Merzouk, the daily arrests dropped below 1,000 for the first time, but the violence became even more extreme.
The impact of Russia's latest war atrocities
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 11/04/2022
» Four years after the Soviet Army fought its way into Berlin in 1945, Moscow built a huge memorial in Treptower Park to the 80,000 Russian and other Soviet soldiers who died taking the city. (5,000 of them are actually buried in the park.) And Berliners instantly took to calling it the "Tomb of the Unknown Rapist".
Aukus sub pact: Here's how an alliance is born!
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 21/09/2021
» When the Sept 11 attacks struck New York and Washington in 2001 and the US armed forces went on full alert, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice immediately got on the direct line to Moscow and told Vladimir Putin not to worry: the United States was not going to attack Russia. Mr Putin replied that he understood, and was standing Russian forces down.
Donkeys finally twig to climate change message
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 26/07/2021
» Zeitgeist is a slippery word. At best it's just a fancy German way of saying "the spirit of the times"; at worst it is only pretentious noise. So maybe we should say "inflection point" instead. I think we are passing through an inflection point.
Today it's Zuma, tomorrow it could be Trump
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 17/07/2021
» Sooner or later ex-president Donald Trump is bound to be indicted for some crime. It doesn't matter which -- it could be a fraud or corruption charge, or a sexual offence, or incitement to violence, or even just tax evasion. (That's what finally got American gangster Al Capone.) And it doesn't matter whether he's convicted, either; the real drama will come before that.