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Quick Hits 129 – Can we be more consistent in our use of language when talking about terrorism?

The Proud Boy who smashed a US Capitol window is a former Marine. How is that detail important?

Watch The Proud Boy who smashed Capitol window is a FORMER MARINE. Is that important?
Headlines are the first thing we see when we consume news. They thus help us form a first impression. Should they then not be carefully written? 

Borealis looks at this issue in the context of right-wing extremism (RWE) and the US military.

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.

Read The Proud Boy Who Smashed a US Capitol Window Is a Former Marine on VICE


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Are we entering an era of WTF terrorism?

Episode 264 – Everyone seems to want to be a terrorist, but are they really? Terrorism has been dominated for ages by well-defined groups and ideas ranging from far right, far left and jihadi proponents….

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Don’t shoot the intelligence messenger!

Episode 263 – If intelligence doesn’t jive with your world view, maybe that view has to change We are inundated with information at levels impossible to process. Much of this is dis- or misinformation and…

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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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