Internationally known writer and broadcaster
Gwynne Dyer appears less than optimistic
about the outcome of the current U.S. military
action in Iraq. When asked to outline the main
thrust of his upcoming presentation at Brock
University, “Future: Tense—The foundations of
World War III are being laid today,” his first
words are, “I am worried,” and it only gets
worse from there.
Most Canadians likely recognise Dyer from his
appearances on the evening news or from the
picture that accompanies his syndicated
column which appears in 175 newspapers in
45 countries. Born in Newfoundland, Dyer
served in the Canadian, American and British
Navies, and earned a PhD in military and
Middle–Eastern history from the University of
London. After a stint as a university professor,
Dyer has spent the last 30 years as a
journalist, broadcaster and lecturer. Among
his achievements are the acclaimed National
Film Board TV series War and The Defence of
Canada on which he collaborated with Tina
Viljoen, as well as the series The Human Race
and Protection Force which deals with
peacekeeping in Bosnia. Adding to the list of
books he has authored, such as The Defence
of Canada: In the Arms of the Empire which
was based on his NFB series and 2003’s
Ignorant Armies: Sliding into War with Iraq, this
has been a banner year for Dyer on the
publishing front as both War: The New
Edition—an updated version of his original
book based on the NFB series—was released
in October, and Future: Tense: The Coming
World Order came out just this month.
At the heart of Dyer’s latest book and his
upcoming presentation are concerns about the
greater neo–conservative project to preserve
America as the world’s sole super–power by
substituting a Pax Americana for the current UN
system. In the face of comparative growth rates
