• OPINION

  West's reproach of Russian realism reeks of hypocrisy

  News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 09/10/2015

  » It's a week since the Russians began their air strikes in Syria, and the countries that have already been bombing there for over a year -- the United States and some other Nato countries -- are working themselves up into a rage about it. The Russians are not bombing the right people, they are killing civilians, they are reckless, dangerous, and just plain evil.

• OPINION

  Syria's chance for 'peace and stability'

  News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 02/03/2016

  » So far the Russian plan for a ceasefire in Syria is working remarkably well. The truce that came into effect on Saturday had been observed with only minor violations on all the relevant fronts, and the UN's humanitarian coordinator in Syria, Yacoub el-Hillo, called it "the best opportunity that the Syrian people have had over the last five years for lasting peace and stability".

• OPINION

  Duterte is a problem for the Philippines, not the UN

  News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 25/08/2016

  » Rodrigo Duterte, the new president of the Philippines, gives good copy. Here's a quote from his final election rally: "Forget the laws on human rights. If I make it to the presidential palace, I will do just what I did as mayor. You drug pushers, hold-up men and do-nothings, you better go out. Because I'd kill you. I'll dump all of you into Manila Bay, and fatten all the fish there."

• OPINION

  Time of plenty over in Saudi Arabia

  News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 05/10/2016

  » 'God be with the citizens, we are back to the time of poverty," wrote Saudi Arabian blogger Rayan al-Shamri on Twitter last week. That's a bit strong, but he and his fellow citizens are certainly no longer living in the time of plenty. Saudi Arabia is cutting back on all fronts.

• OPINION

  Trump's 'jobs' plan faces uncertainty

  News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 02/01/2017

  » The main message of 2016 was that we are entering a period of economic and political upheaval comparable to the industrial revolution of 1780-1850, and nothing expressed that message more clearly than Donald Trump's appointment of Andrew Puzder as his secretary of labour. Even though it's clear that neither man understands the message.

• OPINION

  Reunification of Syria under Assad

  News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 04/01/2017

  » So far the end-game in Syria has played out in an entirely predictable way. All of Aleppo is back in the Syrian government's hands, that decisive victory for President Bashar al-Assad and his Russian backers has been followed by a ceasefire, and the Russians are now organising a peace conference in Astana, Kazakhstan for later this month.

• OPINION

  President Trump all talk when it comes to return of coal

  News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 01/04/2017

  » 'My administration is putting an end to the war on coal," said Donald Trump, surrounded by the usual gaggle of officials and (in this case) coal-miners, as he put his super-size signature on the Energy Independence Executive Order. But coal is dying as a major energy source in the United States for reasons far beyond the reach of executive orders.

• OPINION

  Erdogan's win will unleash turmoil

  News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 19/04/2017

  » "The office of the President of the Reich is unified with the office of the Chancellor. Consequently all former powers of the President of the Reich are demised to the Fuhrer and Chancellor of the Reich Adolf Hitler. He himself nominates his substitute. Do you, German man and German woman, approve of this regulation provided by this Law?"

• OPINION

  The North Korea crisis: Why now?

  News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 11/05/2017

  » Apart from Donald Trump's need for a dramatic foreign policy initiative, is there any good reason why we are having a crisis over North Korea's nuclear weapons testing now?

• OPINION

  Ireland and Serbia's PM sea change

  News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 22/06/2017

  » For most Irish people, the most striking thing about their new prime minister, Leo Varadkar, is that he is very young. (At 38, he is the country's youngest leader ever.) It's mainly the foreign press that goes on about the fact that he is a) half-Indian, and b) gay.

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