AltWeeklies Wire
Where Are the Egyptians When Libya Needs Them?new
The collapse of the democratic revolution in Libya will gravely damage the prospects of the “Arab spring” elsewhere. Rulers in other Arab countries where the army is also largely made up of foreign mercenaries, will conclude that they can safely kill enough of their own protesters to “restore order”.
The Georgia Straight |
Gwynne Dyer |
03-14-2011 |
International
Religion Clouds Aid In Afghanistannew

The former head of Canada’s aid program in Afghanistan has expressed concern that Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s religious beliefs are hampering humanitarian efforts.
The Georgia Straight |
Travis Lupick |
12-16-2010 |
International
Israel Must Make Peace with Neighborsnew
The war against Hamas in Gaza looks more and more like the three-week Israeli war against Hezbollah in Lebanon in 2006, which could hardly be called a success. It will last about as long. It will kill about as many Arabs, probably a thousand or so. And it will end with Hamas, like Hezbollah, still able to fire rockets at Israel.
The Georgia Straight |
Gwynne Dyer |
01-13-2009 |
International
Ukraine Politicians Are Split on Russian Tiesnew
In the immediate aftermath of the Orange Revolution of 2004, the more extreme Ukrainian nationalists fantasised that the country could break all links with Russia and become an entirely Western state, but realism is starting to prevail.
The Georgia Straight |
Gwynne Dyer |
11-18-2008 |
International
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert Tells the Truth Too Latenew
Olmert recently said something that no previous Israeli prime minister has said. He declared that if Israel wants peace, it must withdraw from almost all the lands it occupied in 1967. Unfortunately, it's probably too late.
The Georgia Straight |
Gwynne Dyer |
10-06-2008 |
International
Thabo Mbeki's Spectacular Fall from Gracenew
It was widely believed of South Africa's outgoing president, Thabo Mbeki, that the only time he wasn't plotting was when he was asleep. More than his bizarre views on AIDS or even his failure to do much for South Africa's poor, it was that reputation as an inveterate plotter that finally brought him down.
The Georgia Straight |
Gwynne Dyer |
09-24-2008 |
International
Political Bickering Could Start a New Cold Warnew
There is still no good reason to have a new Cold War, and I still think it won't happen. But as the politicians posture and the stupidities accumulate, I'm less sure than I was that it won't happen.
The Georgia Straight |
Gwynne Dyer |
08-29-2008 |
International
The Georgian Debacle Could Break NATOnew
If the U.S. pursues its goal of bringing Georgia and Ukraine into NATO, there are only three options. If "old Europe" digs in its heels and refuses, then either the U.S. drops its demand, or NATO breaks up. The third alternative is that "old Europe" agrees to let the two former Soviet republics join -- but with the unspoken reservation that they will never actually go to war with Russia to protect them.
The Georgia Straight |
Gwynne Dyer |
08-20-2008 |
International
South Ossetia Was a Monumental Miscalculation by Georgianew
This was Georgia's second attempt in 18 years to conquer the breakaway territory by force, and now that option is gone for good. So are the country's hopes of joining NATO. Yet sections of the Western media are carrying on as if the Russians started it, and are now threatening to invade Georgia itself.
The Georgia Straight |
Gwynne Dyer |
08-11-2008 |
International
Beijing's Defenses Can't Stop Terrorismnew
The deployment of 100,000 troops around Beijing and the surface-to-air missile batteries that protect the main stadiums couldn't stop two equally determined Uighur militants from killing 16 Chinese police and injuring another 16 in an attack on a border post near Kashgar.
The Georgia Straight |
Gwynne Dyer |
08-06-2008 |
International
EU's Soft Power Defeated Serbia's Radovan Karadzicnew
Radovan Karadzic's disguise was quite elaborate, but he didn't spent the past thirteen years hiding from the Serbian authorities. They knew where he was all along.
The Georgia Straight |
Gwynne Dyer |
07-28-2008 |
International
Election Moves Taiwan and Beijing Closernew
The triumph of Ma Ying-jeou, the Nationalist Party (or Kuomintang) candidate in the presidential election in Taiwan, brings to an end eight years of rule by the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party.
The Georgia Straight |
Frank Ching |
03-31-2008 |
International
Tags: international
Former Spy Rejects al-Qaeda Theory in Bhutto Killingnew
Although the Pakistan government has blamed al-Qaeda for the assassination of the former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, the former head of the country's national spy agency described it as a tactic to hide security lapses and to please the U.S.
The Georgia Straight |
Gurpreet Singh |
01-04-2008 |
International
Tags: international
Burmese Brace for Violencenew
Members of Vancouver's Burmese community have told the Georgia Straight that their country could erupt in violence at any moment.
The Georgia Straight |
Travis Lupick |
09-28-2007 |
International
Tags: international
Canada Deports to Tyrannynew
Human-rights advocates are calling on the federal government to increase the number of countries where it won't send failed refugee claimants.
The Georgia Straight |
Staff |
08-24-2007 |
International
Tags: international