Borealis Threat & Risk Consulting
Episode 288 – What will take for Arab states to launch another ‘Arab spring’? Almost 15 years ago the world awoke to an amazing event. A Tunisian fruit vendor had his wares seized and was insulted by a police officer, leading to his later suicide and a call for change in Tunisia. This spawned a […]
Episode 287 – When will Canada take PRC meddling in its affairs seriously? That China has infiltrated Canadian society at so many levels is beyond doubt. “Police” stations, harassing dissidents, interfering in our elections, the list goes on and on. And, despite reports and inquiries these anti-democratic activities do not seem to garner the necessary […]
Episode 286 – Is The Terminator in the offing? You cannot get far these days without some article and warning about Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the possible extermination of humanity. How close are we to that and what can we do about it? Are there good sides to AI? I am joined by a true […]
Episode 285 – Why are people seeing the US as an example to follow when it comes to gun violence? You cannot go a day, it seems, without a mass shooting in the US. Far too many deaths and injuries have been caused so much that the leading cause of death for people between one […]
Episode 284 – Can we deal with the ‘new’ Saudi Arabia? Saudi Arabia is desperately trying to change its image from an ultraconservative Middle East oil power to a modern state. Much of this change is at the hands of Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman (MBS) who is the darling of the international community and […]
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 […]