Showing 1 - 10 of 88
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.)
Netanyahu's long game ensnares Trump
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 14/03/2026
» Donald Trump is caught in the trap that he helped to build, and he is starting to flail against his fate. His "war of choice", "Operation Epic Fury", was supposed to end in "unconditional surrender" by Tehran in just a few weeks, but if Mr Trump ever had a plan beyond "use massive force", it isn't working.
After 66 years, Cuba's regime faces reckoning
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 21/02/2026
» Fidel Castro and his communist band of brothers have had a good long run in power (66 years), but they have run out of road.
Surviving the collapse of the population
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 13/02/2026
» 'To them that hath shall [more] be given" is generally a reliable guide, especially in economic matters, but it doesn't work if the beneficiaries are too stupid to take advantage of the gift. The scarce and precious commodity in this case being people, who are in increasingly short supply.
Arab fraternity weakens and hegemons rule
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 01/11/2025
» 'This is the way the world ends, not with a bang but a whimper," wrote T S Eliot in 1925, probably responding to the profoundly unsatisfactory aftermath of World War I (although with a poet, you never really know). At any rate, it's happening again, this time in the Middle East.
China holds back for now over Taiwan
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 25/07/2025
» 'I hope I am wrong. My gut tells me we [the US and China] will fight in 2025," wrote General Mike Minihan, head of US Air Mobility Command, in a private memo two years ago. There are still five months to go, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say that he's wrong.
Today, Tuvalu. Tomorrow, the entire world
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 15/07/2025
» Some big changes arrive with a bang, but usually they sort of sneak in and you barely notice them at first. Last month's big change saw the creation of the world's first climate-change visas. It's a way of giving potential climate refugees some hope and some dignity, and it would certainly be an improvement on the current migration mess.
Nobody really wants to be a Nazi, but....
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 27/12/2024
» 'Alternativ fur Deutschland" (AfD) means "The Alternative for Germany", and the alternative on offer is fascism. Not actual Naziism, but the AfD uses fascist rhetoric and tactics to attract German voters. It has also attracted some improbable foreign admirers.
Age begins to show for Chinese Communists
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 08/10/2024
» 'No one can stop the wheel of history," said China's President Xi Jinping on the recent 75th anniversary of the day when the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) proclaimed the creation of the People's Republic of China. And the wheel is indeed still turning -- but that may not be good news for the fourth-generation heirs of that revolution.
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!"