Gwynne Dyer - Climate Wars
2013 SFU Vancouver Speaker Series
Presented by SFU Pubic Square, SFU's Vancity Office of Community Engagement, SFU's Centre for Dialogue, SFU Institute for Humanities and Gen Why Media.
Climate Wars - A lecture by Dr. Gwynne Dyer, moderated by Georgia Straight editor Charlie Smith.
The lecture “Climate Wars” is based on Dr Dyer's book of the same name. Drawing on interviews with scientists, policy-makers and military strategists in a dozen different countries, it explores the grave geopolitical implications of large-scale (and probably rapid) climate change. Governments are starting to make some calculations that they prefer not to discuss in front of the children.
7:00 p.m. (PT)
Djavad Mowafaghian Cinema
SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts
149 West Hastings Street, Vancouver
SFU Vancouver Speaker Series
The SFU Vancouver Speaker Series brings global experts to a local audience. Launched in 2012, the series builds on SFU’s rich history of community engagement by exploring critical issues to contribute to better understanding among Vancouver’s citizens through an intellectually enriching experience.
The SFU Vancouver Speaker Series is presented by SFU Public Square, in partnership with SFU Vancouver and SFU’s Vancity Office of Community Engagement.
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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-80′s. One episode, ‘The Profession of Arms’, was nominated for an Academy Award. His more recent works include 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 recent books include “Ignorant Armies: Sliding into War in Iraq” (2003), “Future: Tense” (2005) and “The Mess They Made: The Middle East After Iraq” (2007), all of which were number one or number two on the Globe & Mail’s non-fiction best-seller list.
His new book “Climate Wars”, based on his recent CBC “Ideas” series of the same name, deals with the frightening geopolitical implications of large-scale climate change, and has just been published in Canada by Random House.
“Crawling from the Wreckage”, just published, traces the world’s halting emergence from the dark tunnel of the past decade, a time marked by exaggerated fears of terrorism, futile and unnecessary wars in the Middle East, neglect of climate change, and financial near-collapse.
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