Borealis Threat & Risk Consulting
In this podcast, retired Canadian intelligence analyst Phil Gurski discusses the subject of terrorism: what it is (and isn’t), trends, developments and more. Author of six books on terrorism, Phil is not shy to wade into controversial matters and provide his perspective honed from more than three decades in intelligence.
Episode 297 – Why calling terrorist groups ‘dead’ is rarely a good idea I cannot recall how many times I have heard a world leader, or a self-styled ‘terrorism expert’, expound that a given terrorist group has been ‘totally defeated’ (that is exactly what Donald Trump said about ISIS in Iraq and Syria in 2019 […]
Episode 296 – How does a country weigh national vs. economic security? To say that Canada-China relations have been rocky would be putting it mildly. From the heyday of the first Trudeau (Pierre) to the depths of the PRC’s kidnapping of two Canadians several years ago, it has not been an easy road. Furthermore, China […]
Episode 295 – Afghanistan is not known as the ‘graveyard of empires’ for nothing After 9/11, the US, Canada and many other nations sent troops to Afghanistan to find and punish Al Qaeda leader Usama bin Laden and bring ‘democracy’ to the country. Thousands of casualties – on both sides – later, the US pulled […]
Episode 294 – What is the current state of ISIS and how worried should counter-terrorism agencies be? In 2019 then US President Trump stated that ISIS had been ‘totally defeated’. While it was true that the so-called ‘Caliphate’ had for all intents and purposes been destroyed, the group was anything but gone. It is still […]
Episode 293 – Is the Trump Administration undermining those agencies tasked with keeping it safe? Security intelligence and law enforcement agencies do very important jobs in investigating threats to our nations. As a consequence, they have to have the resources to do that, without interference for political reasons. What is happening in the US, however, […]
Episode 292 – What ever happened to cracking down on Chinese interference in Canada? Remember the Hogue Inquiry? Canada went through a soul search into Chinese actions in our country, what we knew and what we ignored (i.e. decades of intelligence that was rejected or not even read) and came up with a whole bunch […]
Episode 291 – The world should help women and girls fleeing Taliban misogynist rule If it is one thing jihadi terrorists are known for it is their hatred of women. While they claim to be ‘pure’ Muslims who treat women in accordance with Islamic law they are in fact vile misogynists. Of these extremists there […]
Episode 290 – What is next for the US after the killing of Charlie Kirk? The US is, alas, no stranger to political violence. Three presidents have been assassinated as have several public figures like Martin Luther King. The political atmosphere of hate and retribution is magnified in today’s world of social media and dis/misinformation […]
Episode 289 – One nation’s success against Islamist extremism could serve as a model The Philippines has long been beset by jihadi groups such as the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG), the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Front (BIFF) and the one bunch with the unintended acronym MILF – the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. Of late, one does […]
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 […]