Gwynne Dyer
Gwynne Dyer is a United Kingdom-based independent journalist who writes a column for The Hill Times.
Gwynne Dyer is a United Kingdom-based independent journalist who writes a column for The Hill Times.
Why, more than 50 years after most countries in sub-Saharan Africa got their independence, do almost all of them still teach the language of their former colonial ruler in their schools?
This futile war has put the entire global economy—and more importantly for Donald Trump, the American economy—at risk. The longer the war lasts, the stronger Iran’s position becomes.
Several American experts are already talking about the possibility of a civil war, and countries that are fighting internally automatically lose the crown.
We are entering a period where some major changes in climate policy will need to happen quite fast—a decade or two—if we are to avoid ending up on full ‘Hothouse Earth’ by the end of the century.
Repairing the damage done in 16 years under Viktor Orban will take time: the judiciary’s been packed, the government’s a kleptocracy, and most of the media is owned by the former populist leader’s cronies.
After the Second World War, a brutal realism took root: hard-nosed calculations about how to thwart the many countries that have designs on their neighbours, and the worse threat of nuclear war.
Despite the American president’s ludicrous claims to the contrary, there is no deal on the table, no meaningful negotiations of any kind underway with Iran.
An alliance with no American input would be quite adequate to ensure the safety of western and central Europe, although in the short term it is a bit lacking in terms of nuclear deterrence.
Iran’s new leaders just don’t care what the Americans do. They believe their control of the Strait of Hormuz beats every card in American hands—and they are probably right.
What makes it interesting is that this time Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán may lose. The election is due on April 12, and for months now his Fidesz Party has trailed the opposition Tisza Party by a wide margin—generally around 10 per cent. The real cause of his problems is a stagnant economy, but he can’t fix that and he has started to panic.
Iran’s system has been created to outlast the superior weapons technologies of its enemies. The stockpile of missiles is doing havoc to the economies of America’s Gulf allies, the Strait of Hormuz is blocked to international shipping, and time is on Iran’s side.
Insisting students of minority groups be taught entirely in Chinese to the neglect of their native language suggests a desire to demote these languages and ultimately to eliminate them completely.
It is the deadline for proposals for the disposal of various parts of the world-famous National Center for Atmospheric Research, whose personnel, equipment, and possibly even records will be scattered to the winds.
The likeliest alternative, unfortunately, is for Donald Trump to decide that the solution is yet more force. Perhaps including ‘Boots on the Ground’, because it will be hard to make the Strait of Hormuz safe without controlling the Iranian islands on the north side of the Strait.
Different goals require different strategies, and there is a gulf between the Americans and the Israelis that will soon become visible.
Last June, America launched one-day air strikes on Iran, but this time it could be the start of a forever war.