Category: Perspectives

There was a very interesting juxtaposition of stories on violent extremism this week in two Western, democratic nations where two acts of terrorism shocked their populace’s in recent years.  Oddly enough, in an era where we almost instinctively associate terrorism with Islamist extremism, these two were right-wing in nature.  And, the perpetrators of these acts […]

Well this was a day of opposites in Canadian news.  This morning the Globe and Mail reported that a man convicted almost 20 years ago in a murder case that was secured thanks to a ‘Mr Big’ operation wants the Supreme Court to re-open his case.  That same court ruled in 2014 that this tactic, […]

This piece appeared in The Hill Times on June 18, 2018 Well, the G7 in La Malbaie, Quebec, is over and some would say ‘Thank God!’  It would be hard to imagine a weirder summit than the one Canada just hosted.  The group of seven powerful economic and political nations usually gathers to talk shop, […]

To say that Canada-US relations are going through a rough spot now would be a slight understatement.  Trade tariffs.  A disastrous Canada-led G7, due mostly to the ?performance? of the US President.  Accusations that Canada burned down the White House during the War of 1812: an amazing feat for a country that was not born […]

We humans are constantly trying – one would hope – to make our jobs easier, more efficient and able to produce better results.  This is, usually, a good thing since the opposite – harder, less efficient and less productive – would strike most of us as kinda stupid.  So we get more automation, more streamlined […]

Bangladesh was born in a paroxysm of violence in 1971.  A declaration of independence from Pakistan (Bangladesh used to be called ‘East Pakistan’ after the division of the former British Raj into India and Pakistan in 1947) brought a brutal response by the Pakistani army that led to anywhere between 300,000 and 3,000,000 deaths.  The […]

This piece appeared in The Hill Times on June 4, 2018 Carrying out a terrorism investigation is not easy.  The stakes are high since many (erroneously) see terrorism as an existential, pervasive threat and no one is willing to accept failure as an option: dead bodies in our streets are not something anyone wants to […]

If there is one thing that frustrates me most it is the tendency of a lot of people, well-intentioned or otherwise, to make sweeping statements about terrorism – what it is, what causes it, etc.- without doing the minimum amount of real research to back up their claims.  I am sure you have read much […]

Do you get emails offering you massive amounts of money in exchange for a little personal information – say your bank account number?  I do, every day.  My spam folder is full of messages from Nigerian princes who have chosen me to share their wealth with.  I am flattered by their generosity but I politely […]

Have you ever heard of the trolley problem?  It goes like this. There is a runaway trolley barreling down the railway tracks. Ahead, on the tracks, there are five people tied up and unable to move. The trolley is headed straight for them. You are standing some distance off in the train yard, next to a […]