Category: Quick Hits

Episode 259 – Terrorism is terrorism, and that includes Jewish extremism Setting houses on fire. Uprooting olive groves. Attacking schools. Killing civilians. These are things we have become accustomed to when we talk about jihadis but in this case we are talking about Israeli Jewish settlers in the West Bank. And is something the Israeli […]

Episode 258 – While every attack is different there are some familiar characteristics here Another vehicular attack, another round of questions on what happened and why. The families of those killed and injured in an ISIS-inspired incident want answers on why this occurred, what was known, and why it was not stopped. Was there anything […]

Episode 257 – What does a vehicular attack in New Orleans tell us about terrorism on a global scale? New Year’s Eve is supposed to be a happy time, ushering out the old year and welcoming the new. For partygoers and revelers in New Orleans it was anything but. A truck rammed into people after […]

Episode 256 – Terrorism is with us to stay unfortunately I would imagine most people are sick of hearing about terrorism. We read and view reports on a daily basis where individuals and groups carry out attacks or, more hopefully, are foiled by law enforcement and security intelligence agencies. Enough is enough, right? Alas, likely […]

Episode 255 – Why can’t we all get along in the terrorism studies field? In many areas it is acceptable to put forward a hypothesis, based on what is known, and see where it goes. Honest practitioners will change that idea once new information is made available, and not hold to it in the face […]

Episode 254 – Is the Magdeburg Christmas market attack an other example of ‘cafeteria terrorism’? Another mass gathering, another vehicular attack, this time in Magdeburg, Germany. This is a trend, especially amongst Islamist jihadis (Nice, Barcelona, London, Berlin…) in recent years. This case is different, though, as the alleged motive of the alleged attacker seems, […]

Episode 254 – Is it helpful to ignore the jihadi elephant in the room? Ever since 9/11, Western nations have devoted a lot of time and money trying to understand ‘radicalisation’, and more narrowly the kind of radicalisation that leads to violence. In essence, this is what causes terrorism (terrorists are made, not born). Our […]

Episode 253 – The West needs to stand up more to autocracy The world is in a terrible mess right now. Autocracies like Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela and others are running roughshod over human rights and international norms. All this has huge implications for national – and international – security. The democracies on […]

Episode 252 – Why are we so afraid to call things what they are? It does not take much these days to be called a ‘racist’ or a ‘misogynist’ or an ‘Islamophobe’. Just question accepted woke views on any matter and you are immediately labeled an enemy of progress. As a consequence, some, including perhaps […]