And so the outrage begins. A Transport Canada report that states that terrorists could use legitimate, Charter-protected protest activity as a cover to carry out violence (see story here) has caused a kerfuffle. A director with the Canadian Civil Liberties Association has expressed concern that the report and its authors paints “(lawful) activism as a […]
Author: Phil Gurski
Phil 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.
The President and terrorism
President Obama addressed the US people last night in prime time. A nation shaken by the attack in San Bernardino needed to hear from its leader, wanted to know that he was going to do something, and craved assurances that they were safe. It was obvious before the President began his speech that many would […]
Psychology and radicalisation
I’ve been noticing a lot more coverage of terrorism and radicalisation in the pages of New Scientist lately. On the one hand I find this curious since the magazine, which I have enjoyed reading since the early 1980s, usually includes articles on the harder sciences: physics, astronomy and biology. True it does treat the somewhat […]
Initial thoughts on San Bernardino
Although there is much still to learn about the attack in California in which a husband and his wife opened fire on a group of his co-workers, killing 14 and wounding many more before dying in a shootout with police, there is some information available that casts interesting light on what we know, and what […]
Global warming and terrorism
As we continually seek to understand terrorism and what makes a terrorist, we hear many reasons brought forward and defended as THE answer or cause. I have already, on several occasions, discussed and dismissed the perennial disenfranchisement/alienation/poverty…. myth and will not return to it here. Now another “soupe du jour” has arisen, probably not coincidentally […]
One of the greatest challenges a society has to face with respect to the delicate balance between privacy and freedom of thought and national security has to do with when organs of the state are allowed to take an interest in the activities of its citizens when those activities are believed to constitute a threat […]
Buddhist violence – not an oxymoron?
The recent stunning election results in Myanmar (a.k.a. Burma) have led to much optimism over the future of the Southeast Asian country. Long led by the military, the majority won by Aung San Suu Kyi – leader of the National League for Democracy and daughter of the man who negotiated Burman independence from the UK […]
Responsible speech
I have often said that it is important not to leap to conclusions in the immediate aftermath of tragic events. I have often condemned “instant analysis”, the scourge that we have allowed to spread whereby we need to understand everything right away, with no time for sober consideration or reflection. And I have no intention […]
When having a beef leads to death
All too often the word terrorism is associated with a Muslim, or a group of Muslims, or even a whole organisation of Muslims, who carry out acts of despicable violence against civilians. Paris. Nigeria. Sinai. Pakistan. Somalia. Beirut. The list goes on and on. It is important to note that there are a great many […]
How NOT to defeat terrorism
It is natural in the wake of a catastrophic attack for people to be upset and angry and even vengeful. Emotions are raw and there are immediate calls to “do something”. Problems that have been around for a long time suddenly get more attention, but rather than a sober, measured response, we leap towards knee-jerk […]