You gotta hand it to MBS, the power behind the throne in Saudi Arabia. Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman, son of the current king, has sure made a name for himself of late. Letting women drive. Promising a new future for his country with shiny impressive technological cities and the like. Corruption has been nipped in […]
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If you were to ask most Canadians about our intelligence services the first response would very likely be “Wait! We have intelligence services??” I am being only slightly facetious. I imagine everyone knows about CSIS – the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (where I worked for 15 years) – and maybe a few recognise CSE – […]
Hubris, defined as “excessive pride or self-confidence or arrogance”, is a human emotion that has long fascinated me. There are individuals who exercise it with alarming regularity – a certain US President whose name rhymes with ‘dump’ readily comes to mind – and it is often seen as a fatal flaw that results in someone’s downfall. For instance, Napoleon could […]
When you try to think of London and terrorism, what comes to mind? I’d wager the 7/7 attacks in 2005 and any number of similar incidents. Or that fact that the UK Security Service has identified 23,000 radicalised Britons they worry about. What I would be surprised at would be if your immediate thoughts turned […]
China is getting a lot of headline attention these days in Canada and elsewhere. Most of this coverage revolves around Chinese attempts to have its state-owned enterprises (SOEs) buy up Western companies. Some of these deals have been cancelled by Western authorities over security concerns. The bottom line seems to be we in the West […]
For many people the solution to terrorism is quite simple. Those who are fighting with groups like Al Qaeda and Islamic State and others can be killed in airstrikes, drone strikes or armed combat. Those who are captured alive can be turned over to local officials or brought home for trial where they can be […]
Former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau said it best in referring to the Canadian-US relationship: “Living next to you is in some ways like sleeping with an elephant. No matter how friendly and even-tempered is the beast, if I can call it that, one is affected by every twitch and grunt”. We Canadians do spend a […]
As a former intelligence analyst with more than three decades in national security and someone who has chosen to go public with my knowledge, perspective and experience I have attracted a lot of attention. Some of it is praiseworthy (“Thanks for your service”), some appreciative (“I like what you wrote”) and some not so good […]
This piece appeared in the April 23 edition of The Hill Times In a very funny Monty Python skit John Cleese plays a drill sergeant who is trying to teach a bunch of skinny recruits to defend themselves against foes wielding fresh fruit (oranges, apples, grapefruit, pomegranates….) with typical hilarious results. Cleese gets the underwear-clad […]
OK, OK, I know I really should lay off the Monty Python analogies. I imagine you are getting sick of them. But can anyone REALLY get tired of the greatest comic group in history? Come on, admit it, you love them as much as I do. Staying with this obsession of mine, then, I want […]