Now that Stephen Harper is an ex prime minister, we can be sure to see dozens of articles on his legacy as our leader (in fact, they started to appear hours after he lost the October 19 election). Depending on your political stripe, he is either a great PM or one of the worst. There […]
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Signs of the times – 2
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 […]
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The long arm of the terrorist law
When a terrorist act occurs there are a number of inevitable events that follow immediately afterwards. The attackers are called “cowards” (while those who leave IEDs may be described so, can anyone really call a suicide bomber a coward?). There is a usual demand for vengeance and retaliation. And the head of state promises that […]
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The psychology of terrorism
The field of psychology has taken quite a hit lately. Since the true test of scientific veracity is replication (if I make a hypothesis about a phenomenon based on an experiment and no one can get the same results based on the same methodology the hypothesis is weak), a recent report that slightly more than […]
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Not very intelligent – part two
In an earlier blog post I spoke of the dangers of allowing intelligence analysis to be driven by politics (Not Very Intelligent – July 22). Now the US assessments on its campaign against the Islamic State (IS) may have been subject to the same scourge. In a front-page piece in the New York Times (see […]
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The “knows” have it
In what seems likes eons ago, former US Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld once provided his take on what the US intelligence community knew about the terrorist threat during a news conference. It is worth repeating here. “There are known knowns. These are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is […]
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Sins of the (grand)father
Whenever an act of terrorism occurs in the West there is an immediate flurry of questions and panic. How did this happen? Who was the perpetrator? Why did he (or, more infrequently, she) do it? Where did they get radicalised? Is this another self-radicalised lone wolf (perhaps the most inaccurate label out there)? What do […]
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Not very intelligent
We all know that politicians are generally not well regarded. Recent surveys in the US have shown trust in Congress at around 14%. Not good. I suppose the reasons for this historic lack of confidence vary from person to person. Most news stories seem focus on illegal spending, or outrageous perks or how little time […]
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When will Turkey learn?
Further to my earlier post on when Egypt would learn from its historic mistakes in dealing with terrorism and violence, I now turn my attention to Turkey. According to news sources, the Turkish government may invade along a 70-mile stretch of its border with Syria to establish a 20-mile buffer zone (see article here) Given […]
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Where’s the beef?
Religion can be a wonderful thing. It is a source of comfort and meaning for billions and can inspire people to the loftiest heights. And it can be used to impose the worst human impulses. I came across this story in Sunday’s New York Times (see full story here). The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) – a […]