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Canadian Intelligence Eh! Podcast

Gregory Johnsen: What is happening in Yemen and why does it matter?

In this episode, Borealis is joined by Yemen specialist Gregory Johnsen to get a better understanding of how we got there and what the stakes are.

Most people have either never heard of Yemen or know very little about it. The country is one of the world’s poorest, is home to Islamist terrorist groups and is beset by a war with the involvement of foreign actors. 

Borealis is joined by Yemen specialist Gregory Johnsen to get a better understanding of how we got there and what the stakes are.


The Last Refuge: Yemen Al-qaeda And America’s War In Arabia 

A gripping account of how al-Qaeda in Yemen rebounded from an initial defeat to once again threaten the United States.

Far from the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan, the United States and al-Qaeda are fighting a clandestine war of drones and suicide bombers in an unforgiving corner of Arabia.

About my guest Gregory Johnsen

Gregory D. Johnsen, a former Fulbright Fellow in Yemen, is a PhD candidate at Princeton University and the Michael Hastings National Security Fellow at BuzzFeed. A frequent guest on NPR, he has contributed essays to the New York Times. He lives in Ithaca, New York.

About the host Phil Gurski

Phil Gurski is the President and CEO of Borealis Threat and Risk Consulting Ltd. and Programme Director for the Security, Economics and Technology (SET) hub at the University of Ottawa’s Professional Development Institute (PDI). He worked as a senior strategic analyst at CSIS (Canadian Security Intelligence Service) from 2001-2015, specializing in violent Islamist-inspired homegrown terrorism and radicalisation.

From 1983 to 2001 he was employed as a senior multilingual analyst at Communications Security Establishment (CSE – Canada’s signals intelligence agency), specialising in the Middle East.

Find out more about Phil Gurski

Are Russian mercenaries Africa’s counter-terrorism saviours?

Episode 265 – It is best to look a gift Russian mercenary in the mouth Fighting terrorists is hard work. Many countries have sought alliances, both political and military, to pool resources to engage in this struggle. In some cases, allies have been kicked out, only to be replaced by brutal criminal gangs – a.k.a….

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Whither Iran and its threat to international security?

Episode 264 – Is Iran on the brink of collapse? If there is one country that has been at the forefront of terrorism and international meddling it is Iran. Since the revolution of 1979, in which a Shia fundamentalist regime replaced the monarchy, it has been a prime sponsor of terrorist groups such as Hamas,…

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Are UAE actions in Africa helpful?

Episode 263 – The UAE is punching well above its weight in counter-terrorism, but to what end? The UAE is perhaps best known for its financial strength and glittering skyscrapers, including the Burj Al Khalifa, currently the tallest structure in the world. It is not generally known for its diplomacy or, more worryingly, counter terrorism…

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By Phil Gurski

Phil Gurski is the President and CEO of Borealis Threat and Risk Consulting Ltd. Phil is a 32-year veteran of CSE and CSIS and the author of six books on terrorism.

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