Borealis Threat & Risk ConsultingIt is rare for an intelligence agency to get public credit for what it does or how it does it. It is even rarer for a group of intelligence analysts to be featured in a news story and described as at the forefront of understanding a particular threat. Analysts are like the Steve Carrell character […]
The Canadian Justice Department has been very busy on the anti-terrorism front lately. After the Anti-Terrorism Act was passed what seems like ages ago, three other bills were rushed through Parliament in the past few years. S-7 made it an offence to travel to join a terrorist group or commit a terrorist act abroad. C-44 […]
I spent almost half of my career as an intelligence analyst looking at a very specific type of extremism: Al Qaeda and its ilk. I looked at hundreds of cases of individuals who had radicalised in tune with the terrorist organisation’s ideology, and read hundreds of academic papers and dozens of books on the topic. […]
Whenever an act of terrorism occurs in the West there is an immediate flurry of questions and panic. How did this happen? Who was the perpetrator? Why did he (or, more infrequently, she) do it? Where did they get radicalised? Is this another self-radicalised lone wolf (perhaps the most inaccurate label out there)? What do […]
I hate saying I told you so, but… Remember my post on Egypt a month ago (When will Egypt learn?)? In it I wrote that the Sisi government appears to be making the same mistakes that the Sadat and Mubarak governments before him had committed. In the face of a very real threat from a […]
I see that the American government and its intelligence community are engaged in a debate over which terrorist group poses a greater threat to the US: Al Qaeda (and its affiliates) or the Islamic State (and its sorta affiliates). There are proponents on both sides of the ledger and good points are being made by […]
I’m sure you’ve had times where you remark “do you remember…?”. It could be about someone you went to high school with. Or that ice cream place your parents would always stop at on the way back from the cottage. Or maybe a song that was always on the radio way back when. Yep, these […]
Muslims complain constantly that their faith is always – and unjustifiably – associated with terrorism. Many people believe that Islam is inextricably linked to violence and right wing demagogues like the Netherlands’ Geert Wilders have called the Quran an inspiration for intolerance, murder and terror. Look, we have to acknowledge that the vast majority of terrorist attacks […]
I have a confession to make. I am a Trekkie. Well, not really. I don’t get dressed up and go to Star Trek conventions. I don’t adorn my walls with posters (the walls are reserved for Lord of the Rings!). And I still can’t do that Vulcan hand thingie. But I do love the show […]
In baseball, a batter that achieves a .300 average (i.e. 3 hits in every 10 tries) is considered a success. A goaltender with a save percentage of over .900 (meaning he saves nine out of every ten shots he faced) is considered good. Other professions undoubtedly have their own measures of success. So why is […]