Now that Stephen Harper is an ex prime minister, we can be sure to see dozens of articles on his legacy as our leader (in fact, they started to appear hours after he lost the October 19 election). Depending on your political stripe, he is either a great PM or one of the worst. There […]
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Narrative and the defeat of IS
If there is one thing that terrorist groups like the Islamic State are good at doing, it is getting their message out. Videos, blogs, tweets, online magazines like Dabiq, photos and other social media promote the group’s goals, strike fear in the hearts of many and at the same time draw Westerners and others to […]
Canadians have overwhelmingly voted for change. Mr. Harper is now a former prime minister and Mr. Trudeau is now prime minister elect. The new government will have a lot of challenges before it: the economy and income disparity; the environment; immigration and our role in the refugee crisis; First Nations; and many more. But what […]
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Sects and violence
As worthy and beneficial as religion can be, it is nevertheless true that religion has also been behind some of the worst forms of violence. We in the West tend to see religion as a nice thing to have although I think we are increasingly moving towards a post-religious society, at least in Canada. Whatever […]
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When is a terrorist not a terrorist?
Spoiler alert: I am not getting into the debate about “one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter” (sorry). The word “terrorist” conjures up all kinds of images, from shadowy figures with evil intent to soulless monsters who like to kill. Complicating matters is the plethora of definitions out there. Every country – and even […]
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Seeking the easy way out
In the wake of yet another mass shooting in the US (how many this year? Too many to count), the analysis bandwagon revs up its engine. We need more guns. We need fewer guns. We need more laws. We need fewer laws. We need…. It’s all someone else’s fault. Blame the shooter because he (I […]
As we near the end of a very long federal election campaign, I’d like to review what, if anything, has been said that touches on terrorism and national security Spoiler alert: not much. But a lot that has nothing to do with terrorism may actually have a significant impact on how safe we will be […]
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Stimulus and response
I just saw a very interesting, and disturbing, movie at a downtown Ottawa cinema. “The Stanford Prison Experiment” is an account of the famous (infamous?) 1971 psychological study aimed at determining how people act in a particularly brutal setting (i.e. jail). Volunteers (who were paid $15 a day for what was planned as a two-week […]
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Fitting the profile
Another mass shooting in the US. Another nation in grief. Another set of questions on Why? Another series of calls to prevent future incidents. Why can’t the (fill in the blank – government/academe/science/police) profile people who engage in mass killings and stop them before they shoot? What is so hard about all this? After all, […]
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War games
The use of child soldiers in conflicts around the world is an indefensible and unspeakable violation of human rights. Children in a number of countries are sometimes forced to watch their families killed before their eyes (incredibly, in some cases, they are coerced to do the killing themselves), pressed into military service for a ragtag […]