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Perspectives

National Security Priorities for the Canadian Government, from ISIS Fighters to Guns

Many pundits remarked that we saw neither hide nor hair of anything related to national security or foreign policy in the platforms of any of the main parties during the election campaign.

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Perspectives

The death of another bin Laden and what it might mean

Here we go again. After more than 1,000 blogs on terrorism it is inevitable that my readers will encounter some repetition. While I have tried to keep my writings new and fresh it is perhaps – I hope! – understandable that some topics will rise to surface more than once. After all, there are simply […]

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Perspectives

The US keeps shooting itself in the foot in its CT policy

As the nation which suffered the single greatest terrorist attack in history – 9/11 – the US has a vested interest in developing a counter terrorism policy so that these events do not happen again, especially in the US. To be honest there is also a completely understandable desire for bringing the perpetrators to justice, […]

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Perspectives

Podcast #5: China is getting CT all wrong

Here is a link to the YouTube version of podcast (it is also available on iTunes) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Uy_S0Inojk Here are some informative links about China’s campaign against the Uyghurs https://thediplomat.com/2019/01/are-indonesia-and-malaysia-ready-to-stand-up-for-chinas-muslims/ https://www.rfa.org/english/women/suffering-01302019152956.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2019/02/07/uighurs-australia/?utm_term=.59e0784d5aea https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/2186446/beijing-backs-patriotic-actions-chinese-students-who-reported https://ent.siteintelgroup.com/Chatter/is-supporter-calls-to-kill-chinese-in-defense-of-islam-and-uyghurs.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/02/21/how-china-tried-stop-my-freedom-speech-canada/?utm_term=.214ddb57f282&wpisrc=nl_todayworld&wpmm=1 https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/china-has-put-1-million-muslims-in-concentration-camps-mbs-had-nothing-to-say/2019/02/24/370be676-36e4-11e9-854a-7a14d7fec96a_story.html?utm_term=.84e60354c337&wpisrc=nl_todayworld&wpmm=1 https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/chinas-expanding-war-on-islam-now-theyre-coming-for-the-kazakhs/2019/03/01/16ebbe76-38ff-11e9-a2cd-307b06d0257b_story.html?utm_term=.0e75941659e5&wpisrc=nl_todayworld&wpmm=1 Featured terrorist attack – Kashmir https://www.economist.com/asia/2019/02/15/a-deadly-bombing-provokes-a-crisis-between-india-and-pakistan Terrorism this fortnight (Feb 12-25) Afghanistan Afghan Intelligence forces arrested two members of […]

Canadian Intelligence Eh

Canadien Intelligence Eh Everywhere you look these days terrorism and violent extremism dominate the headlines.  Whether you follow what is happening in Afghanistan or Iraq, or in the West writ large, we are inundated with news of attacks by groups and individuals fighting for a ’cause’. In a world of multiple voices and opinions it […]

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Canadian Intelligence Eh! Podcast

Whatever happened to Sikh extremism?

Episode 2 – Here are supplementary notes for podcast #2

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Perspectives

Is Canada really making a difference in Mali?

Photo ops by leaders of states with the military are no-brainers I suppose. The president/prime minister/king/grand poobah gets on plane, flies to Lower Slobovia to meet his/her country’s soldiers serving to maintain a war/keep the peace in a faraway land, thanks them for their service, assures them that what they are doing is right, acknowledges […]

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Perspectives

The ill-named ‘war on terrorism’ is not going well

The title of this blog is biased, of that there is no doubt. This offering is also perhaps not really necessary as Rowman and Littlefield have just published my 4th book, An End to the War on Terrorism, in which I have a much longer discussion on the premise of this much shorter piece.  So […]

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Perspectives

How to determine terrorist threat levels

On November 13, 2015 I was in France, Paris to be precise.  If that date reminds you of something, let me refresh your memory.  That was of course  the day – or more accurately the evening – when a group of Islamist terrorists struck in the core of the country’s capital, attacking the national sports […]

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Perspectives

Terrorism was down in 2017. That’s good. Right? Yes, but…

A very interesting report was just issued by the START center of excellence on terrorism at the University of Maryland on violent extremist trends in 2017.  It is worth a read.  Here are some good news highlights: The total number of terrorist attacks worldwide in 2017 decreased by 23 percent and total deaths due to […]