A couple of months ago I attended a meeting of TSAS, an assembly of Canadian academics who look at terrorism and national security issues (TSAS stands for ‘Terrorism, Security and Society). I have a number of friends at TSAS and am in fact an affiliate, although I am not myself an academic. At that meeting […]
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Terrorism and citizenship
This piece appeared in The Hill Times on September 3, 2018. What is a citizen? Well it depends. The concept appears to date back to city states in ancient Greece, but in the modern era each state decides what the rules are. For the average person citizenship is determined by the particular country in which […]
One of the harshest criticisms over a lot of stuff that is written about terrorism is the distinct lack of reliable and primary sources. Papers and books are written in an academic style with little use of actual data, although as my friend Bart Schuurman in the Netherlands has stated things are looking up as […]
So what are YOU afraid of? Snakes? Sharks? Public speaking? For me it is heights. I have a hard time even climbing a ladder to clean out the eavestroughs at home. Seriously, a metre off the ground and I get weak in the knees. Yeah, I know, what a wimp! What about terrorism? Does it […]
This piece appeared in The Hill Times on August 27, 2018 Whatever side you take on the investigation by former FBI Director Robert Mueller on whether the Trump campaign team colluded with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential elections – either it is a very serious allegation of wrongdoing by the current president and/or his […]
I have a confession to make. I do not like Geert Wilders. The platinum blond Dutch politician is, in my humble opinion, a self-focussed, attention-seeking, grandstanding man. In other words, I think he is a jerk. He is not the only jerk out there of course and it is important to stress that there is […]
This piece appeared in The Hill Times on August 20, 2018 Is there any less desirable way to travel these days than by air? Long lineups everywhere, intrusive searches, the delicate dance of holding up your pants while shuffling (since you have to remove your belt before you pass through the scanner), trying to figure […]
I remember it as if it were yesterday. My first day at CSE was July 14, 1983. I moved to Ottawa from London (ON) and went to the Sir Leonard Tilley Building where I was brought to a former RCMP officer I’ll call ‘Joe’ who provided me my security indoctrination. After outlining what CSE did […]
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Another IS threat – ho hum
You have to hand it to Islamic State (IS) and its leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi – whose demise by the way has achieved Mark Twainian status (“rumours of my death have been greatly exaggerated”). Despite the loss of the Caliphate, the deaths of thousands of its members, the virtual drying up of its fighter pipeline […]
Is there anything more aggravating than meandering slowly through a security line at an airport? We’ve all been there and we all hate it. People have missed flights because they were delayed at checkpoints and we have all suffered insults to our ‘dignity’ because of the need to comply with security demands (Who left liquids […]