Michael Gwynne Dyer (born 17 April 1943) is a British-Canadian military historian, author, professor, journalist, broadcaster, and retired naval officer. Dyer rose to prominence in the 1980s with the release of his television series ''
War
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...
'' in 1983 and the publication of an accompanying book in 1985. Since the 1960s he has lived in
London, England
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...
, where he works as a syndicated columnist. Dyer is a noted expert in
Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...
ern affairs, having completed his graduate work in this area and written several books on the subject. More recently he has focused on
climate change
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...
and its geopolitical consequences.
Biography
Dyer was born during World War II in
St. John's, in the then British crown colony the
Dominion of Newfoundland. When Newfoundland joined Canada on 31 March 1949 he became ''de jure'' a Canadian citizen. Dyer joined the
Royal Canadian Naval Reserve
The Naval Reserve (NAVRES, french: link=no, Réserve navale) is the Primary Reserve component of the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN). The primary mission of the NAVRES is to force generate sailors and teams for Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) operations, in ...
at the age of sixteen. He obtained a
Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...
in
history
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...
from
Memorial University of Newfoundland in 1963, a
Master of Arts
A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Th ...
in military history from
Rice University
William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a private research university in Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranked among the top universities ...
in
Houston, Texas in 1966 and a
Doctor of Philosophy
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...
in military and
Middle Eastern history at
King's College London in 1973.
Dyer served in the Canadian, American and British naval reserves. He was employed as a
senior lecturer
Senior lecturer is an academic rank. In the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, Switzerland, and Israel senior lecturer is a faculty position at a university or similar institution. The position is tenured (in systems with this conce ...
in war studies at the
Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, 1973–77. In 1973 he began writing articles for leading London newspapers on the
Arab–Israeli conflict
The Arab–Israeli conflict is an ongoing intercommunal phenomenon involving political tension, military conflicts, and other disputes between Arab countries and Israel, which escalated during the 20th century, but had mostly faded out by the ...
, and soon decided to abandon academic life for a full-time career in journalism. Dyer was the O.D. Skelton Memorial lecturer on March 23, 1998, in St. John's, Newfoundland.
In the fall of 2002
Royal Roads University
Royal Roads University (also referred to as RRU or Royal Roads) is a public university with its main campus in Colwood, British Columbia. It is located at Hatley Park National Historic Site on Vancouver Island. Following the decommissioning of R ...
awarded Dyer an Honorary Degree.
In 2010, he was made an Officer of the
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit.
To coincide with the cen ...
.
Dyer lives in
Camden Town, London with his
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
n second wife Tina Viljoen. The couple met during the production of his 1983 television series ''
War
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...
'', where Viljoen was a co-producer. They have one daughter. Dyer also has two sons from his first marriage to journalist Clare Dyer.
Works
Theses
*
The Mesopotamian Campaign to the Fall of Kut-el-Amara: November 1914-April 1916'. Rice University, 1966.
*
The End of World War One in Turkey, 1918-1919'. King's College, University of London, 1973.
Books
*''War'' (1985) - Awarded the
Columbia University School of Journalism
The Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism is located in Pulitzer Hall on the university's Morningside Heights campus in New York City.
Founded in 1912 by Joseph Pulitzer, Columbia Journalism School is one of the oldest journalism sc ...
award in 1986.
*''The Defence of Canada: In the Arms of the Empire'' (1990)
*''Ignorant Armies: Sliding Into War in Iraq'' (2003)
*''
Future: Tense: The Coming World Order'' (2004)
*''
With Every Mistake'' (2005)
*''War: The Lethal Custom'' (2005)
*''The Mess They Made: The Middle East After Iraq'' (2007)
*''After Iraq: Anarchy and Renewal in the Middle East''. 2008 ; German edition
*''Climate Wars'' (2008)
*''Crawling from the Wreckage'' (2010)
*''Canada in the Great Power Game 1914-2014'' (2014) eBook
*''Don't Panic: Islamic State Terrorism and the Middle East'' (2015)
*''Growing Pains: The Future of Democracy and Work'' (2018)
*''The Shortest History of War'' (2021)
Documentaries
*''
War (miniseries)'' (1983 8-part miniseries) produced by the
National Film Board of Canada
The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; french: Office national du film du Canada (ONF)) is Canada's public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary f ...
(NFB) and broadcast in 45 countries including by the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
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...
. The third part of the series titled ''The Profession of Arms'' was nominated for an
for Best Documentary Feature. The series won an
Award and the Public Jury's Grand Prize at the International Film Festival in Nyon, Switzerland.
His collaborator was Tina Viljoen. A book of the same name based on the series was published in 1985.
*''The Defence of Canada'' (1986) A collaboration with Tina Viljoen for the NFB and the
*''Harder Than It Looks'' (1987)
*''The Human Race'' (1994) - Examines the roots, nature and future of human politics.
.
*''Seven Faces of Communism'' (1978) - A seven-part radio and TV series produced for the CBC and the
(ABC), 1978.
*''Brazil'' (1979)
*''The Catholic Counter-Revolution'' (1980)
*''War'' (1981)
*''The Gorbachev Revolution'' (1988–90)
*''Millennium'' (1996)
*
* , a clip of Dyer answering questions about the book.