20 February 2023 Nigerian Election By Gwynne Dyer There is something wrong with Nigeria. It is Africa’s most populous country, with a fifth of the continent’s entire population (200 million). It is a major oil producer, pumping 1.5 million barrels a day. But its GDP per capita is slightly less now than it was in …
15 February 2023 The Floaty-Bag Problem: Solved? By Gwynne Dyer The United States has been having “a bit of a floaty-bag problem over its airspace,” as South Africa’s ‘Daily Maverick’ news-site put it. Indeed it has. Four balloons or other flying “objects” shot down by the US Air Force over American or Canadian territory in …
1 January 2023 The Next Ukrainian Offensive By Gwynne Dyer It’s still unseasonably warm in Ukraine, but there’s a chance of a hard freeze next weekend. By mid-month it should be reliably below zero almost all the time: the ground will be hard and the smaller streams will have frozen over. Expect the next Ukrainian …
30 November 2022 China’s Covid Trap By Gwynne Dyer “Our COVID-19 policy is the most scientifically effective, the most economical, and yields the best result,” insisted the ‘People’s Daily’ newspaper in China after mass public protests against the government’s ‘zero covid’ policy last weekend. If President Xi Jinping believes that, he is in for a …
27 November 2011 Malaysia: Change At Last? If Anwar Ibrahim had become prime minister of Malaysia in the late 1990s, when he was in his early 50s, instead of being jailed on trumped-up sodomy and corruption charges, Malaysia might now be a very different place. He’s finally getting his chance – he was sworn in …
16 November 2022 Eight Billion and Counting By Gwynne Dyer I must have missed the memo, because there was no newborn baby picked out at random last Tuesday to be the designated eight billionth human being. Perhaps they finally realised how tacky that journalistic device was, or maybe they just got tired of nagging us. …
12 October 2022 Xi Jinping Forever? By Gwynne Dyer In the Chinese Communist Party’s 20th National Congress, which begins in Beijing on Sunday, President Xi Jinping is expected to be confirmed as president-for-life. If that actually happens, China’s ascent to genuine superpower status will be at least delayed. At worst (from the Chinese perspective), it …
18 August 2022 India at 75 By Gwynne Dyer Last Tuesday, on the 75th anniversary of Indian independence, Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised to turn India into a developed country within the next 25 years. If all goes well, that could actually come to pass, b ut it would have to go very well indeed. …
2 May 2022 China and Covid: The Cost of Infallibility By Gwynne Dyer Even the Pope claims to be infallible only on matters of faith and doctrine. On the chance of rain or the speed of a racehorse he will freely admit that he is just as fallible as you and I. Whereas secular dictators, …
20 March 2022 Ukraine: Lessons for Taiwan, Lessons for China By Gwynne Dyer Almost a month in, China is still being extremely coy about its attitude towards the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The regime is acutely aware that there are many parallels between the Russian-Ukrainian relationship and the Chinese-Taiwanese one, and that the Russian attempt …