Borealis Threat & Risk ConsultingPhil Gurski is the President and CEO of Borealis Threat and Risk Consulting Ltd. Phil is a 32-year veteran of CSE and CSIS and the author of six books on terrorism.
Episode 271 – Why it is important to analyse state recognition objectively If there is one conflict I have tried to stay away from, because it is so intractable, it is Israel-Palestine. The two have been at each other’s throats for decades and terrorist attacks have been carried out on each other’s territory by individuals […]
Episode 283 – Why have more nations not listed the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist entity? The Muslim Brotherhood (MB) is one of the oldest Islamist organisations, dating back to 1928. It is conservative in its outlook and is seen by some as the inspiration for terrorist groups such as Hamas. And yet, few countries […]
Episode 270 – The melting of the icecap and mass migration may also impact national security in the West During the Cold War, Canada maintained radar stations in its north to warn against Soviet ballistic missiles coming over the pole, in an arrangement with the US called the DEW Line (distant early warning). Now with […]
Episode 269 – How do we deal with climate change and global warming through a threat lens? When we talk national security the same few challenges come up: terrorism, espionage, cyber attacks, sabotage, foreign interference, etc. These are ‘traditional’ in the sense that they are open to investigation, information gathering and, in the worst case […]
Episode 282 – How a cipher clerk opened the door on Soviet spying in the West Ah the Cold War! Those were the good old days when we knew the enemy and he knew us. Few know that the decades-long slowly simmering conflict began in Ottawa when Igor Gouzenko defected from the Soviet Embassy with […]
This piece first appeared in The Epoch Times Canada on June 12, 2025. As a nation of immigrants, Canada has served as a refuge for all kinds of people who came here for all kinds of reasons. Some simply wanted a better life for themselves and their families. Some were fleeing war or conflict zones. […]
Episode 281 – The Horn of Africa is beset by a new, albeit odd, alliance To say that the Horn of Africa (Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia) is unstable is an understatement. Whether we are talking about war, famine or terrorism, the region has had its challenges for decades. Now a working relationship between Al Qaeda-affiliated Al […]
Episode 268 – How serious is the RW threat to Canada? If you listen to many ‘experts’ the biggest threat to world safety emanates from the far right (what normal people call right-wing terrorism (RW) but the Canadian government calls IMVE – ideologically-motivated violent extremism). Recent RCMP arrests in Quebec hit the news yesterday and […]
That Canada is, and proudly so, a multicultural nation has been part of our identity for decades (since 1971 officially). Nevertheless, Canadian belief that this policy is good for us has been falling of late (decreasing from 74% to 65% between June 2023 and July 2024 according to a Research Co. poll). Still, two-thirds of […]
Episode 267 – A look back at the 7/7 London (UK) bombings twenty years later. When it comes to major terrorist attacks that grab the world’s attention a few rise to the top. 9/11 (of course!), the 1983 Marine barracks bombing in Beirut, the Bataclan/Stade de France massacre and the Madrid metro attack in 2004 […]