Gwynne Dyer
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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 Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
and
PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...
. The third part of the series titled ''The Profession of Arms'' was nominated for an
Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
for Best Documentary Feature. The series won an
ACTRA The Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) is a Canadian trade union representing performers in English-language media. It has 25,000 members working in film, television, radio, and all other recorded media. The orga ...
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
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...
(CBC) *''Harder Than It Looks'' (1987) *''The Human Race'' (1994) - Examines the roots, nature and future of human politics. *''Protection Force'' (1995) - A three-part series on peacekeepers in Bosnia.


Radio series

*''Seven Faces of Communism'' (1978) - A seven-part radio and TV series produced for the CBC and the
American Broadcasting Company The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is an American commercial broadcast television network. It is the flagship property of the ABC Entertainment Group division of The Walt Disney Company. The network is headquartered in Burbank, Cali ...
(ABC), 1978. *''Brazil'' (1979) *''The Catholic Counter-Revolution'' (1980) *''War'' (1981) *''The Gorbachev Revolution'' (1988–90) *''Millennium'' (1996) *
Climate Wars
' on CBC Radio ''Ideas'' (2008) (3-part documentary)


References


External links


Official website
*
Dyer interviewed on Dan Carlin's Hardcore History Podcast
* , a clip of Dyer answering questions about the book.
Gwynne Dyer on "Climate Wars: The Fight for Survival as the World Overheats"
- video report by ''
Democracy Now! ''Democracy Now!'' is an hour-long American TV, radio, and Internet news program hosted by journalists Amy Goodman (who also acts as the show's executive producer), Juan González, and Nermeen Shaikh. The show, which airs live each weekday at ...
''
A Response to Gwynne Dyer, "Ethiopia: Population, Famine and Fate, 1 September 2009"

In Conversation: We Ain't Seen Nothing Yet: Gwynne Dyer, In Conversation with Robert S. Eshelman, ''The Brooklyn Rail''

Works by Gwynne Dyer
at
Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dyer, Gwynne 1943 births Living people Alumni of King's College London Canadian military historians Canadian male non-fiction writers Canadian columnists Canadian expatriates in England Canadian political writers Memorial University of Newfoundland alumni Officers of the Order of Canada Writers from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador Rice University alumni Journalists from Newfoundland and Labrador Canadian expatriate writers