Gwynne Dyer

COLUMN: Geo-engineering is in trouble

It was already clear that we are very likely to break through all the “do not exceed” limits and go into runaway warming later this century.

DYER STRAITS: 2013 — wars on the ground and in cyber space

Unless you just want a list of events, a year-end piece should try to identify where the flow of events is really taking us.

DYER STRAITS: Nelson Mandela: Peace At Last

He was not a saint; he was just a man. But he was the right man at the right time.

DYER STRAITS: Ukraine caught between EU and Russia

Ukraine’s President Viktor Yanukovych had much explaining to do at the summit meeting of the European Union in Vilnius, Lithuania.

DYER STRAITS: Iran and the U.S.: neither blind nor stupid

Obama needs more time to work on Congress. But Israel may still win this tug-of-war.

The downfall of the National Security Agency

Politicians and government officials rarely tell outright lies; the cost of being caught out in a lie is too high.

DYER STRAITS: African presidents don’t need immunity

The AU’s modest proposal has been greeted with an outcry all over the continent.

DYER STRAITS: Two countries take the road not taken

Two governments did bold, brave things last week. One of them quit and called a new election even though it had a viable majority.

DYER STRAITS: Merkel still strong as allies weaken

It’s not a question of whether “Mutti” (Mom) will still be in power after the German election this Sunday.

DYER STRAITS: Psychodrama in the Hamlet of the Patomac

The psychodrama in Washington grows ever more bizarre.

DYER STRAITS – Egypt and Turkey: Democracy in trouble

Egypt and Turkey have the same basic political problem.

U.S. entangled in red line on poison gas

President Barack Obama has been trapped by his own promise to arm Syrian rebels

3D printing, the next big thing

There are not all that many 3D printers in circulation yet, but in five or 10 years they may be as common as mobile phones.

World actually a pretty peaceful place

There are close to 200 independent countries in the world, and only one in a hundred is currently at war

A political transformation in Japan

After a spectacularly unsuccessful term as Japan's prime minister, Shinzo Abe has adopted a different approach in his second try

Chemical fantasies and grim reality in Syria

No Western government — nor any Arab government, either — is willing to put soldiers on the ground in Syria

A rather small weapon of mass destruction

U.S. Department of Justice calls homemade bomb used at Boston Marathon a weapon of mass destruction

Threats inflated to fill the space

Institutions will try to preserve the problem to which they are the solution

Thatcher led the shift to the right

Margaret Thatcher the first to realize it was possible to win elections on a platform that simply ignored the wishes and needs of the poor

Grillosconi Wins, Europe loses

The winner of last week’s election in Italy was a mythical beast called “Grillosconi”