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Perspectives

When all everyone wants to talk about is far right extremism can we forget about the jihadis?

Why Islamist terrorism must remain an investigative priority.

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Perspectives

Why sending military forces abroad is a two-edged sword

(NB how’s that for an analogy?) When I was a kid I did not have a good impression of the military (Canadian in my case of course). My friends and I would laugh at those who joined the cadets or reserves, seeing them as ‘losers’. My childhood was first filled with images of US army […]

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Perspectives

Remember Al Qaeda? It’s baaaacckkk!

When you have been at war with something for almost two decades it is important to declare ‘victory’ at some point. Those whose support you – i.e. the public/taxpayer – need and want to see some results for the actions they are backstopping. Fighting for years with no sense that you are winning is a […]

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Perspectives

Why I am becoming more fearful of yet another useless Middle East war

Is it just me or is it starting to feel like ‘deja vu all over again’, to quote the great New York Yankee catcher Yogi Berra? Did I tumble down a time wormhole only to find myself back in 2003? Are we on the cusp of going to war in the Middle East – again? […]

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Perspectives

When politics dictate who is a terrorist – and who is not (part 1)

The Muslim Brotherhood (or MB as it is often abbreviated to, not to be confused with MBS, which is Muhammad bin Salman, or ‘Mister Bone Saw’, Saudi Arabia’s powerful king-in-waiting) has been around for a long time – since the 1920s. It is a political party infused with Islamic principles that seeks to govern by […]

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Perspectives

Why going after Iran to compensate 9/11 victims’ families means we have entered the Twilight Zone

There are times I read something and stop suddenly, asking myself “did I read that right?”, or “did I somehow get the message wrong?” Perhaps I skipped over the text and missed some detail (like yesterday when I thought I had a conference call that day which is actually taking place May 1). Maybe I […]

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Perspectives

What to do with the term ‘extremism’

Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland and Alice Through the Looking Glass are two of my favourite books, in large part because of the way in which the author played with language. There is so much of linguistic interest in these (allegedly) children’s novels that one of my textbooks during my undergraduate courses in linguistics at […]

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Perspectives

The next waves of ‘foreign terrorist fighters’

Recent weeks have borne witness to many stories and analyses about the problem of ‘foreign terrorist fighters’ and what to do about them. Those who are holding these terrorists are asking host nations to repatriate them and prosecute them at home.  The responses to these requests vary from ‘hell no, we don’t want them back’ to […]

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Perspectives

Was the Iranian revolution really the catalyst for modern religious extremism? Nope.

In case you didn’t notice – or don’t care – today marks the 40th anniversary of the Iranian revolution. It was this day in 1979 that the Ayatollah Khomeini-led revolt against the Shah of Iran consolidated victory in what became known as the Dah-e-fajr (the ‘ten days of dawn’ in Farsi, the period between Khomeini’s […]

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Canadian Intelligence Eh! Podcast

What now? Road terrorists?

Episode 1 – In this inaugural broadcast, former Canadian intelligence analyst Phil Gurski looks at what we mean by terrorism and sets the stage for future podcasts.