Showing 71 - 80 of 112
Saudi Arabia is a populist dictatorship
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 27/06/2018
» Joy and pride among Saudi women who are at last allowed to drive. Delight in the car dealerships that anticipate a lot of new business. And dismay in the families of the 1.4 million chauffeurs, almost all from South Asia, who have been earning around US$1,000 (32,960 baht) a month driving Saudi women around. But it will take a lot more than this to change Saudi Arabia.
North Korea and the art of the deal
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 29/05/2018
» The summit is on, it's off, it's sort of on again. It's amateur night every night at the White House, and the fate of the US-North Korean summit scheduled for Singapore on 12 June will be decided by the coin Donald Trump flips each day: heads three days in a row means "yes", tails three days in a row and the meeting stays cancelled.
Gaza deaths a symptom of utter despair
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 18/05/2018
» When all is lost, entire communities sometimes engage in suicidal gestures. It happened as recently as 1906 in Bali, when the local royal family and thousands of their followers, knowing they could not defeat the Dutch conquerors, dressed in their best finery and walked straight into the Dutch gunfire. Thousands were killed.
Trump, Kim have reasons to be civil
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 13/03/2018
» I think I know why President Donald Trump suddenly agreed to hold talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un after a year of mutual threats and verbal abuse.
Amateur hour in the Middle East -- and not much love
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 21/02/2018
» On Sunday it was revealed that the Syrian army has made a deal to help the Syrian Kurds (who are technically rebels) fight off the Turkish invasion of Afrin, a chunk of Syrian territory on the northwestern border with Turkey that has been held by the Kurds since 2012.
Will the US betray the Syrian Kurds?
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 18/01/2018
» Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is an angry man at the best of times, but on Monday he outdid himself: "This is what we have to say to all our allies: Don't get in between us and terrorist organisations, or we will not be responsible for the unwanted consequences." That was a barely veiled threat that he will use force against American troops if they try to stop him from attacking the Syrian Kurds.
The rise of Islamic State: Is it over?
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 15/12/2017
» Late last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin met the leaders of Iran, Turkey and Syria, allegedly to discuss a final peace settlement in the Syrian civil war. On Monday he was in Syria to announce a partial withdrawal of Russian troops from the country because they had inflicted a "total rout" on the jihadist militants of the Islamic State (IS). Is the war really over?
Brexit blues sink in for May as deal reduced to farce
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 14/12/2017
» Politicians never lie. Well, hardly ever. They're not into full disclosure, as a rule, but they know that if you lie, sooner or later you will be caught out, and then you are in deep trouble. So just change the subject, or answer a different question than the one you were asked, or just keep talking but saying nothing until everybody gets bored and moves on.
Fallout of Trump move on Jerusalem could be 'ugly'
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 08/12/2017
» "All of us are saying: 'Hey, United States, we don't think this is a very good idea'," said Jordan’s King Abdullah II in 2002, when it became clear that President George W Bush was going to invade Iraq. But Mr Bush didn’t listen, and it turned out to be an extremely bad idea.
Abdullah Saleh's good luck runs out
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 06/12/2017
» Ali Abdullah Saleh seized power in Yemen in 1978, when he was only 36 years old. He lost it in 2012, when the "Arab Spring" was in full spate, and had been trying to get it back ever since. Thirty-four years was not enough. But on Monday, his truly astonishing ability to switch sides got him killed.