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 323 – I can tell you and not have to kill you! If there is one profession that is badly misunderstood – or not understood at all – it is espionage. Oh sure, there are spy novels and James Bond films and all that, but these are fictional and do not portray the world […]
Episode 322 – What ever happened to Canada’s values? Thanks to US President Trump Canada is forced to diversify its trade relationships. One of those partners, not new but enhanced, is China, and the government of Prime Minister Carney is busy signing deals with the PRC. One of those agreements is to bring in Chinese […]
Episode 321 – Can Iran rely on another Arab ally? Most people think little of Yemen, a desperately poor state at the heel of the Arabian Peninsula. Wracked by civil war and a poor economy, it has nevertheless punched well above its weight, forestalling a Saudi-UAE effort to unseat its government, and launching missiles at […]
Episode 320 – Will Canada’s true north finally be strong…and free? Canada proudly proclaims that it is the ‘Great White North’, a reference to our long border with the Arctic (and sometimes interminable winters – like this one!). But does it really treat the region as a national security priority (it did during the Cold […]
Episode 319 – Why does Canada have a two-decade old national security policy? To say that voters do not care about national security is stating the obvious. When they cast their ballot they are more concerned about the economy, jobs, health care, education and other issues, not on what Canada’s security services are up to. […]
Episode 318 – What do Iranian Canadians think about the current situation in their homeland? Wow, what a couple of days! Israeli and US airstrikes are continuing in Iran and the country’s spiritual leader, Ayatollah Khamene’i, is dead. Iran is engaged in counterstrikes in the region and many are worried about where this will all […]
Episode 317 – Why is the Sahel region of Africa so vulnerable to terrorism? Not many people, I wager, follow events in Africa, let alone the Sahel, the band that spreads from Mauritania in the west to Sudan in the east. And yet this region is rapidly becoming terrorism central globally as groups aligned with […]
Episode 316 – Is Sikh terrorism a thing of the past and are Canadian Sikhs now subject to Indian state violence? At one point in the not too distant past Sikh Canadians were tarred with the terrorism brush. After all, the bombing of an Air India flight in 1985 in which 329 people – mostly […]
Episode 315 – What do bucks and bangs have in common? When most people think of national security they think of things like terrorism, espionage, sabotage and transnational repression. I doubt that economics comes to mind. But what if any is the link between a nation’s economy and national security? I talk to a specialist […]
Episode 314 – Why does the world not punish China for cultural genocide? If we look at how many nations put down – or in the worst case scenario kill – ethnic minorities, the list would be a long one. ISIS and the Yazidis. The Ottomans and the Armenians. The Serbs and Bosnian Muslims. And […]