Episode 163 – Are we seeing the end of Al Shabaab in Somalia?
I once read somewhere that the average lifespan of a terrorists group was about 1.5 years. Some groups, however, hang around and are ‘successful’ for much longer periods of time. Al Shabaab (AS) in Somalia is one such entity, spreading mayhem for a decade and a half. The Somali government and army now claims they have AS on the ropes. Is this true? Borealis talks to Katie Zimmerman from the American Enterprise Institute (AEI).
About my guest
Katherine Zimmerman is a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), where she focuses on the global Salafi-jihadi movement and counterterrorism. She also studies the al Qaeda network and related trends in the Middle East and Africa, including al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and Yemen, al Shabaab in Somalia, and al Qaeda in the Sahel. She is also an adviser to AEI’s Critical Threats Project.
Canadian Intelligence Eh
In a world of multiple voices and opinions it can be very hard to know where to turn. One choice is to look to those who actually worked in counter-terrorism in the national security world. In these half-hour podcasts, 30-year Canadian intelligence veteran Phil Gurski is joined by a fascinating array of individuals with something meaningful to say about these issues as they provide insight into what they mean and what we need to do about them.
About Phil Gurski
Phil Gurski is the President and CEO of Borealis Threat and Risk Consulting Ltd. and Distinguished Fellow in National Security at the University of Ottawa’s Professional Development Institute (PDI). He worked as a senior strategic analyst at CSIS (Canadian Security Intelligence Service) from 2001-2015, specialising in violent Islamist-inspired homegrown terrorism and radicalisation. He is the author of six books on terrorism, including the forthcoming second edition of The Peaceable Kingdom: A history of terrorism in Canada from Confederation to the present, to be published by Double Dagger in February 2023.
