Showing 1 - 10 of 767
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.
It could take 1 Danish soldier in Greenland
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 23/01/2026
» In 1910, Henry Wilson, the British army officer charged with planning for a possible war with Germany, visited the French officer doing the same job in Paris, Ferdinand Foch. The Anglo-French alliance was still a tentative, semi-secret thing, so Wilson asked Foch, "What is the smallest British military force that would be of any practical assistance to you?"
Iran: Don't intervene there, Mr Trump
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 17/01/2026
» Any day now, the United States will "come to the rescue" of the protesters in the streets of Iran's cities and American bombers will unleash "hell" on the minions of the theocratic regime -- or not, as the case may be.
Thai diplomacy amid global turmoil
News, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 13/01/2026
» How do we know which way the wind is drifting? This is a frequently asked question amid the tectonic shifts in international politics. Answers vary. Some say the wind blows from Washington, others from Beijing. Some insist it comes from the market, others from geopolitics. Regardless of the answers, Thailand -- thanks to its nimble diplomacy -- has managed to go with the flow without much difficulty.
Facial scan to prevent health fund fraud
News, Apinya Wipatayotin, Published on 12/01/2026
» The National Health Security Office (NHSO) will roll out facial scan verification on Monday as part of an upgrade to the Universal Health Coverage scheme, with the goal of preventing fraud.
Somaliland: Mixed motivations
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 03/01/2026
» Last week Israel was the first country in the world to establish diplomatic relations with Somaliland. Not Somalia, a wreck of a country on the East African coast that has been mired in civil war for the past thirty-five years, but Somaliland, a different country just north of there that has been peaceful, relatively prosperous and even democratic for all those years.
Peace on Earth? Democracy everywhere?
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 29/12/2025
» Democracy is in retreat or at least on the defensive almost everywhere, while wars are getting bigger and more frequent. The trend lines are frighteningly bad.
Re-energising higher education in Asean
News, Vitit Muntarbhorn, Published on 22/12/2025
» Higher education, implying the tertiary level associated with universities and parallel institutions, is at an inflexion point in Southeast Asia, where the trajectory of socio-political, economic and cultural development is changing rapidly.
Musk's Starship: If it sounds too good to be true...
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 06/12/2025
» Elon Musk promised to build a spaceship that would put people and cargo into Earth orbit at one-hundredth of the current cost per kilo and even enable human beings to create a colony on Mars. A great many people were seduced by the idea, including me.
Push to reopen North Korean abduction case
News, Anucha Charoenpo, Published on 02/12/2025
» A human rights group is calling on the Thai government to revive efforts to resolve the case of Anocha Panjoy, a Chiang Mai native abducted by North Korean agents in 1978.