Originally trained as a historian, Dr. Gwynne Dyer has worked as a freelance journalist, columnist, broadcaster and lecturer on international affairs for more than 20 years. He was born in Newfoundland, and received degrees from Canadian, American and British universities, finishing with a Ph.D. in Military and Middle Eastern History from the University of London. He served in three navies and held academic appointments at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and Oxford University before launching his twice-weekly column on international affairs, which is published by over 175 papers in some 45 countries, including The Blade.
His first television series, the 7-part documentary “War,” was aired in 45 countries in the mid-80s. One episode, “The Profession of Arms,” was nominated for an Academy Award. Other television work includes the 1994 series “The Human Race,” and “Protection Force,” a three-part series on peacekeepers in Bosnia, both of which won Gemini awards. His award-winning radio documentaries include “The Gorbachev Revolution,” a seven-part series based on Dyer’s experiences in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union in 1987-90, and “Millenium,” a six-hour series on the emerging global culture.
Dyer’s major study, War, first published in the 1980s, was completely revised and re-published in 2004. During this decade he also has written a trio of more contemporary books dealing with the politics and strategy of the post-9/11 world: Ignorant Armies (2003), Future: Tense (2004), and The Mess They Made (2006). The latter also was published as After Iraq in the US and the UK and as Nach Iraq und Afghanistan in Germany.
His most recent projects were a 2009 book and radio series called Climate Wars, dealing with the geopolitics of climate change, and a book titled Crawling from the Wreckage in 2010.
Maryse and Ramzy Mikhail Memorial Lecture 