Gwynne Dyer
Independent journalist
Gwynne Dyer is an independent journalist whose articles are published in 45 countries. His new book is 'Growing Pains: The Future of Democracy (and Work)'.
Faint hope of war petering out in Yemen
Some wars end in victory, but just as many sputter out in exhaustion. The war in Yemen, now coming up on five years old, always looked likely to end up in the second category, and the time may be quite soon.
Defeat snatched from jaws of victory in HK
The "silent majority" in Hong Kong, who regime supporters hoped would show that they are fed up with the pro-democracy protests that have shaken the city in the past five months, turns out to be not only silent but non-existent.
It's only news when the man bites the dog
As British newspaper magnate Viscount Northcliffe said: "When a dog bites a man, that is not news, because it happens so often. But if a man bites a dog, that is news."
It wasn't a coup d'etat in Bolivia -- just a blunder
'Democracy is in danger in Bolivia as the result of legitimate pressures from the poor. We cannot generate economic growth and well-being for a few and then expect that the large majorities that are excluded will watch silently and patiently." A recent president of Bolivia said that, but it wasn't Evo Morales (who has just quit).
Cameroon's war on anglophones is self-defeating
Sometimes Donald Trump gets it right. In February he cut off US military aid to the central African country of Cameroon because of its appalling human rights record (and didn't even offer to restore it if the Cameroon government dug up dirt on his political opponents at home). Last Friday he acted again, dropping Cameroon from a pact that promotes trade between sub-Saharan African countries and the US.
Aviation must innovate to stop ‘f lygskam’ fate
Qantas, the Australian airline, has just test-flown the world’s longest commercial air-route: 16,500km from New York to Sydney non-stop. There were only 60 passengers aboard the Boeing 787, all in business class, because the plane needed to conserve the rest of its weight for fuel. And, we are told, they danced the Macarena in the empty economy class to stay limber during the 19-hour flight.
What populists can learn from the Polish model
There is a tension at the heart of populist political parties that may ultimately lead most of them to electoral defeat.
Russian ruse may have duped Trump in Syria
Russia and its Syrian ally Bashar al-Assad win, the Kurds lose, and the United States leaves in disgrace. It has been a hectic few days on the Turkish-Syrian border.
HK protesters making bad gamble
After 17 consecutive weekends of increasingly violent protests in Hong Kong, the first protester was wounded by a live bullet on Tuesday. Tsang Chi-kin, an 18-year-old student and one of a group of about a dozen students attacking a policeman who had become separated from his comrades, was shot in the chest as he struck the officer with a metal pole. He is expected to survive.
