Showing 1 - 10 of 58
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.
No real choice in Nigerian election
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 22/02/2019
» Lengthy delays before announcing the results of African elections are commonplace (the Democratic Republic of Congo last month, Zimbabwe last July, etc.). It just means that people voted the wrong way, and the government needs time to re-arrange the results before publishing them. Postponing the vote at the last moment is much less common, and not so easy to explain.
Second chance beckons for South Africa?
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 18/06/2024
» Cyril Ramaphosa is the president of South Africa again, but everything else is different. He got his job back in a vote late on Friday, but only because at the last moment he managed to cobble together a coalition that has a majority in parliament. It's so new that the coalition partners still haven't agreed on who does what in the new government.
Imran Khan: from cricket star to jailbird
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 06/02/2024
» Pakistan's former prime minister, former cricket superstar and latter-day populist politician Imran Khan was having a quiet week in jail, six months into his three-year sentence for corruption, and suddenly all hell broke loose.
Malaysia gets second chance to prosper and thrive
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 16/05/2018
» Mahathir Mohamad was always a curious character. He was prime minister of Malaysia for 22 years, and although he did not enrich himself many of his cronies did very well from corrupt practices that he did little to curb.
Golan Heights show conquest still an option
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 27/03/2019
» When President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday affirming Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights, there was an outcry that went far beyond the Arab world. His action went against the international rule on the "inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force", we were told -- conquest, in less lawyerly language. Alas, that is just an ideal, not a hard-and-fast international law.
Israel's election and the West Bank
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 09/04/2019
» It shouldn't have been a surprise when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday, three days before the Israeli election, that he is going to annex all the Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank. After all, every other member of his Likud Party in the Israeli parliament (28 out of 29) had already said they wanted to do that. Yet it did come as a surprise.
The 'pink tide' is rising in Latin America
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 15/06/2022
» 'Corruption isn't fought with slogans on TikTok," complained veteran Colombian presidential candidate Gustavo Petro. But social media can win elections, and a right-wing dark horse called Rodolfo Hernández, who calls himself the "King of TikTok", may crush Mr Petro's hopes of becoming Colombia's first-ever leftist president next Sunday.
South Africa poll won't be 'pivotal'
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 07/05/2019
» All the major contenders in tomorrow's elections in South Africa held their closing rallies last weekend, and some striking things were said. As usual, Julius "Juju" Malema, the leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters party (EFF), won the prize for the most inflammatory statement.
South Africa's cash-stuffed sofa saga lingers
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 26/12/2022
» 'Don't have a couch stuffed with cash? Don't worry, you can keep reading for free," read the ad on the website of the Daily Maverick, a tough and sometimes very funny South African news site. President Cyril Ramaphosa's cash-stuffed sofa has become a powerful, universally recognised meme, but it still hasn't brought him down.