Search: “Islamic State”

Canada is a pretty good place to live.  We constantly rank high on every conceivable list (quality of life, happiness, opportunity, openness…) and it is no secret that millions who live elsewhere would give anything to move here.  Sure, we are not perfect and we have a few skeletons in our closet (first and foremost […]

As I wrote in a blog post yesterday, today marks the 10th anniversary of the arrest of 17 men in the Greater Toronto Area in the culmination of a massive terrorism investigation by Canadian authorities.  In what came to be known as the “Toronto 18” (the last subject was arrested in August 2006) Canadians were […]

When a terrorist cell is disrupted, or an individual is arrested at the airport on his or her way to Turkey to join a group like Islamic State, the media rises to the challenge and splashes the news across all platforms.  The public responds in kind and for a short time the blogosphere and news […]

One of the most central tenets of the ideology that drives terrorist groups like Al Qaeda, Islamic State, Boko Haram and others is the belief that Islam and the West are in a state of war.  This war, they maintain, was not instigated from within or by the Ummah, or Islamic world, but rather is […]

I have come to the conclusion that Westerners – and Western governments – are not very patient.  It is not clear, as least not to me, whether this is due to our 24/7 news cycle, the constant availability of, and distraction from, social media, or the very nature of our capitalist society where results are […]

Foreign policy is tough.  I say that not with any hands-on experience as a former foreign affairs officer but as a former intelligence analyst who worked alongside many people at GAC (Global Affairs Canada, formerly DFATD, formerly DFAIT, formerly EAC, formerly…) on international security issues.  I learned that Canada has a very good reputation internationally […]

A lot of people and a lot of governments are getting tired of the so-called “War on Terrorism”.  More and more attacks seem to be happening all the time.  What we used to think was a problem “over there” is now “over here”: Brussels, Paris, San Bernardino, Ottawa…  We cannot seem to get away from […]

In the Western world we tend to separate out young criminals, or offenders, from older ones.  There is probably a great deal of variation in what constitutes “young”: in Canada, the Youth Criminal Justice Act covers crimes up to the age of 18.  Those convicted are treated differently than adults in keeping with scientific evidence […]

The rolling hills of West Sussex provide a beautiful backdrop for just about any activity. I have just returned from a two and a half day conference at Wiston House (Wilton Park) at which 50 people were charged with looking at the relationship between religion and radicalisation.  An emotional and difficult topic to be sure […]

The other week Islamic State (a.k.a. ISIS) came out with issue #14 of its premier on-line magazine Dabiq.   There was the usual stir over the appearance of yet another propaganda product from the world’s most worrisome terrorist group as analysts pored over the text to do content analysis and determine whether this edition contained any […]