Canadian Journalist Gwynne Dyer speaks to Brentwood Students

This morning in the T. Gil Bunch Centre for Performing Arts, students and staff will be hearing from Gwynne Dyer, a London-based writer on international politics, on the geopolitic challenges confronting the West in general and the Obama administration in particular. His extensive experience in covering foreign affairs is likely to provide us with a fascinating insight into the forces that have shaped our current political and economic landscape, in addition to giving us an astute assessment of global trends for the decades ahead.

Gwynne Dyer has worked as a freelance journalist, columnist, broadcaster and lecturer on international affairs for more than 20 years, but he was originally trained as an historian. Born in Newfoundland, he 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.

 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.  His more recent 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 has also 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 was also published as 'After Iraq' in the US , the UK and in Germany.