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Perspectives

May 5, 1881: Fenians bomb Chester Barracks in the UK

On May 5, 1881 Fenians exploded a bomb at the Chester Barracks in Chester, England: there were no casualties

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Perspectives

April 17, 1986: Jordanian plants bomb in pregnant fiancée’s luggage

On this day in 1986, Irishwoman Ann-Marie Murphy was arrested at Heathrow Airport in London by El Al Airlines security as she tried to board one of their planes to Israel. In a false bottom of Murphy’s bag, the security agent found 10 pounds of plastic explosives and a calculator rigged to act as a detonator.

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Canadian Intelligence Eh! Podcast

John Ferris: The Authorized history of GCHQ

Why would the Brits ask a Canadian to write their official SIGINT history?

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Phil in the media

America’s QAnon problem is infecting Canada. What should we do about it?

QAnon, an unfortunate cultural import from the United States, has gained new prevalence north of the border. How bad is it, and what can be done to stop it?

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Canadian Intelligence Eh! Podcast

Lorenzo Vidino on how worried we should be about the Muslim Brotherhood

Former CSIS Analyst Phil Gurksi interviews Lorenzo Vidino, specialist on the Muslim Brotherhood in the West about how worried we should be about the MB.

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Perspectives

Will Scots seeking independence resort to terrorism?

Independence movements sometimes spawn violent fringes: is Scotland headed in that direction?

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Perspectives

Today in Terrorism: December 4, 1971 and 2018

On December 4, 1971 the Ulster Volunteer Force exploded a bomb at a bar called McGurk’s in a Catholic neighbourhood of Belfast, killing 15 and wounding 17.

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Perspectives

A Canadian terrorist is a Canadian terrorist is a Canadian terrorist

We all remember when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau uttered the famous line “a Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian” right? It was during one of the Munk debates in the lead up to the 2015 federal elections after which he became our leader. In that debate, Mr. Trudeau was responding to plans by the […]

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Perspectives

Terrorism: plus ca change (part 1)

What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 1:9) For many in the post 9/11 world it may seem as if terrorism is something new – and terrible. We are constantly inundated with news about attacks here and attacks there, sometimes […]

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Perspectives

The implications of the US-Canada tiff for national security

This piece appeared in The Hill Times on June 25, 2018 Canada and the US cooperate on many issues in many forums: the G7 (even with last week’s horror show thanks to the US President), the G20, the UN as well as a whole host of international bodies, in addition to numerous bilateral councils and […]