Categories
Perspectives

Is the far right extremist threat really that big in Canada?

This piece appeared in The Hill Times on October 15, 2018. There is no question that when the topic around the water cooler turns to terrorism – not that I hope or think that it often does – as far as the average citizen is concerned the particular brand of terrorism that garners the most attention […]

Categories
Perspectives

When you make the wrong assumptions you make the wrong decisions

Sometimes you read something in the news that leaves you shaking your head.  Here is an example. The government of Nepal has banned pornography – again – in order to, wait for it, ban rape.  To this end,  it has added harsh fines or prison sentences for internet service providers who refuse to comply with the […]

Categories
Perspectives

Another cartoon crisis and what it says about freedom and Islam

I have a confession to make.  I do not like Geert Wilders.  The platinum blond Dutch politician is, in my humble opinion, a self-focussed, attention-seeking, grandstanding man.  In other words, I think he is a jerk.  He is not the only jerk out there of course and it is important to stress that there is […]

An End to the War on Terrorism

Why are we still at ‘war’ with terror 16 years after 9/11? This book looks at a variety of approaches and responses to international Islamist extremism, ranging from military and security/law enforcement action to government policies, community measures and religious efforts, with a goal to determining what has worked and what has not. The examples […]

Categories
Perspectives

A killing in Bangladesh evokes frightening memories of a terrorist wave

Bangladesh was born in a paroxysm of violence in 1971.  A declaration of independence from Pakistan (Bangladesh used to be called ‘East Pakistan’ after the division of the former British Raj into India and Pakistan in 1947) brought a brutal response by the Pakistani army that led to anywhere between 300,000 and 3,000,000 deaths.  The […]

Categories
Perspectives

Leave threat assessment to the professionals please

The news is full, every single day, of reports of violence from a number of actors: murders, sexual assaults, shootings, etc.  Occasionally we read of a terrorist attack somewhere in the world – depending on where you live the frequency of this particular form of violence will vary.  Not surprisingly, if you live in Somalia […]

Categories
Perspectives

Another Monty Python moment, if it were not so serious

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 […]

Categories
Perspectives

The white face of violent extremism

As readers of my blog and books will well know I consider myself, and am considered by some, an expert (I prefer specialist) in terrorism.  More specifically Islamist extremism as that scourge was the topic of my four books thus far as well as my career at CSIS.  Indeed, I have studied many aspects of […]

Categories
Perspectives

War with an ‘ism’ is a bad idea

This piece appeared  in The Hill Times on December 18 http://www.hilltimes.com/2017/12/18/war-ism-bad-idea/128951 Last week I was invited to a conference in the UK hosted by the Henry Jackson Society, a US-UK think tank that looks at a variety of issues.  At this particular conference, entitled ‘A wake-up call for all: creating a trans-Atlantic network to battle radical […]

Categories
Perspectives

Is Saudi Arabia serious about combating terrorism?

Published in The Hill Times November 30, 2017 An awful lot has been happening in Saudi Arabia of late.  There is a new sheriff-to-be in town, Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman  – or MBS as he is known – and he is not wasting any time in making changes about the place.  Scores of senior […]