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In the wake of the attacks in Paris on November 13, we have already seen a wide variety of responses on what this all means and what do we do now. French President Hollande has called the barbarity an act of war and vowed a crushing reply to the Islamic State. We shall see what […]
Last week I was asked to speak at the Canadian Military Intelligence Association annual conference in Ottawa. The speakers’ list included the Canadian National Security Advisor (and former Director of CSIS) Richard Fadden and Chief of Defence Staff General Vance. The day was well attended by members of the Canadian intelligence community. On the tables […]
Recognizing Al Qaeda-Inspired radicalization and terrorism in the West This textbook examines what drives Al Qaeda-inspired radicalization to violence, how to detect it, and how to confront it. The chapters discuss behaviors and ideologies that are observable and tangible in radicalized individuals or those on the path to violent radicalization. These behaviors are drawn from […]
When we study and analyse terrorist groups, we tend to look at them in categories – Islamist, right-wing, nationalist, single issue, etc. – rather than as a whole. True, eminent scholars such as David Rappoport have written magisterial works that examine multiple terrorist strands across time, but the current trend is to put boundaries around […]
There are a lot of misconceptions out there on how intelligence agencies do what they do. It is not hard to see why this is: after all, spy services work in the shadows and seldom say anything publicly (“I can neither confirm nor deny…”). On the contrary, if these organisations were open books then they […]
As worthy and beneficial as religion can be, it is nevertheless true that religion has also been behind some of the worst forms of violence. We in the West tend to see religion as a nice thing to have although I think we are increasingly moving towards a post-religious society, at least in Canada. Whatever […]
As we near the end of a very long federal election campaign, I’d like to review what, if anything, has been said that touches on terrorism and national security Spoiler alert: not much. But a lot that has nothing to do with terrorism may actually have a significant impact on how safe we will be […]
The VIA passenger train trial has been a tortuous one. The two terrorists, Raed Jaser and Chiheb Esseghaier were found guilty on eight of nine charges back in March of this year. The plot was disrupted two years previously: that is how long it takes terrorist cases to come to trial. Actually, this was very […]
The world of counter terrorism is usually associated with security intelligence agencies and the military. The former carry out investigations, using human sources and court-approved taps on communications while the latter undertakes “kinetic” action and captures terrorists or kills them through the use of drones/aircraft or special forces (think here of the operation to locate […]
It is comforting and yet humbling to see a news article that conveys information which confirms a lifetime’s work. I studied radicalisation to violence, as inspired by Al Qaeda (and increasingly nowadays the Islamic State) for 15 years from a privileged position as a senior strategic analyst at CSIS. I was able to leverage that […]