Search: “Islamist terrorist groups”

Soon to be former US President Barack Obama once famously said with respect to foreign policy “don’t do stupid shit (or” stuff” depending on your sensitivity to salty language)”.  That maxim could just have easily been applied to domestic policy.  And it is something that incoming president Donald Trump might want to pay attention to. […]

As if the recently terminated (and interminable) US Presidential election campaign wasn’t bad enough, right on cue at least two terrorist groups have threatened to carry out attacks to disrupt it.  The first out of the box was apparently Al Qaeda, at least according to US officials, who warned about non-specific plots in New York […]

Terrorist groups are really good at telling a story.  This skill contributes to what we call narrative: a worldview that explains why a group does something, provides meaning and helps to draw others in.  Islamist extremists in particular have crafted what we call the “Single Narrative”, a wide historical and current canvas in which the […]

If there is one thing we know about terrorism it is that what we do – or what we don’t do – has a real chance of effecting what terrorist groups do.  For terrorist groups are really good at telling the world why they use violence and usually place the blame for their carnage on […]

I like Tariq Ramadan, I really do. I have had the privilege of hearing him talk several times in Ottawa and I find him to be a very well spoken and intelligent man. And I don’t buy the accusation that as the grandson of Hassan al Banna, the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, he is […]

As I write this blog events in Turkey are still unfolding.  Whether we call this a successful coup or an attempted coup is not relevant to what I hope to convey here.  Suffice to say that a tactic the Turkish military used all too frequently in the 20th century appears to have resurfaced. I have […]

The hostage taking and massacre at a Dhaka cafe in Bangladesh is over.  More than 20 innocent people were slaughtered by Islamist extremists, although exactly which terrorists were behind this heinous act is still unclear (Islamic State has claimed responsibility but the Bangladeshi government vehemently, and incredulously, denies IS has a presence in the country). […]

I swore to myself I would never argue with anything that comes out of the mouth of aspiring Clown in Chief Donald Trump for fear of lowering myself to whatever abyss he calls home, but here I am doing exactly that.  Thankfully, since I am really only keen to talk about terrorism in this blog, […]

In the run-up to the British referendum on whether to stay in the European Union or not there were many dire predictions on how a leave vote would effect the United Kingdom.  We are already seeing significant economic fallout and the weeks and months to follow will likely bring more negative consequences in the political […]

We are getting all too used to this.  A man (usually, but very occasionally a woman) walks into a theatre/school/office/restaurant with a weapon that has no place other than a war zone and kills dozens.  Sandy Hook. Aurora.  Columbine High School.  San Bernardino. Now Orlando.  More mass shootings in the US than there were days […]