Search: “Al Qaeda”

CSIS Director Michel Coulombe appeared before the Senate National Security and Defence Committee today and stated that his organisation has used its new disruption powers over twenty times since 2015.   This measure was controversial when introduced by the former Conservative government and is still seen by some as too strong for a service that […]

When an act of terrorism or a serious act of violence takes place, many try to unpack or deconstruct the life, mentality and events surrounding the perpetrator. If we could only achieve a better understanding of why individuals commit violence, the thinking goes, perhaps we could create strategies to identify those at risk and act […]

Twice in the last week I have read articles about the prevalence of right-wing extremism in Canada.  A study by two Simon Fraser University students claimed that there are 100 such groups “active” in this country (see a story on that report here) while a column in The Hill Times on February 15 says that […]

Anyone who has taken a serious look at individuals who radicalise to violence, or at least those who do so in accordance with the Al Qaeda or Islamic State narrative, know that trying to nail down a profile is pointless, for the simple reason that there is none.  Regardless of the factor or data point […]

Do you remember when former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, in an interview with the CBC, said that “Islamicism” was the greatest threat to national security?  I think we all knew what he meant – Islamist extremism – but his use of “Islamicism” was roundly criticised and led to accusations that the Conservative government viewed […]

There is  a lot of debate here in Canada on what we should do about IS.  The Trudeau government made a promise during the 2015 federal election campaign that if elected it would rescind the mission of Canadian CF-18s which are part of the international airstrikes on IS.  Mr. Trudeau had dismissively labelled the decision […]

The  other day a young Muslim in Marseilles attacked a Jewish teacher with a machete.  The victim was able to fend off some of the blows with a copy of the Torah and suffered only minor injuries.  Attacks on French Jews are of course not new: last year’s siege of a Jewish grocery in Paris […]

Two recent attacks in the West have gotten a lot of press attention.  A man in Philadelphia shot a police officer in his vehicle before being shot himself and arrested.  He claims to have acted on behalf of Islamic state (see story here).  Across the “pond”, police in Paris were able to neutralise a man […]

I bet some of you are wondering why this blog post is being written, in light of the title.  Surely, you are probably saying, there is no contest.  Iran meddles in the affairs of other countries, supports terrorist groups like Hamas and Hizballah and is trying to acquire nuclear weapons.  And then there is that […]

One of the West’s key allies in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia, is in a way an odd choice for a friend.  On the plus side, the Al Sauds have provided a modicum of stability to the Arabian Peninsula for decades, served as swing producer of oil (is that a good thing?) and bought enough […]