This post appeared in The Hill Times on February 4, 2019 When we think of the major terrorist threats facing us today we tend to think of phenomena like Islamist extremism (Islamic State, Al Qaeda and the like). If we want to sound more avant garde we might say far right extremism (neo-Nazis, white supremacists, […]
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Episode 1 – In this inaugural broadcast, former Canadian intelligence analyst Phil Gurski looks at what we mean by terrorism and sets the stage for future podcasts.
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Yes, minors can be terrorists too
In most Western judicial systems there is a very stark divide between minors and adults. The former are treated differently and, if found guilty of serious offences, are usually kept separate from older criminals. This is probably a good thing as putting kids with adults allows the latter to influence – and not in a […]
This piece appeared in The Hill Times on December 19, 2018. July 1 is, of course, our national day. Whether you celebrate it like we do here in Ottawa with a series of events centred on Parliament Hill capped by the awesome fireworks display or in your own local way (at the cottage, in your […]
This piece appeared in The Hill Times on December 3, 2018. Way back in medieval times there was a concept known as sanctuary. Under this notion, those who had committed crimes could place themselves beyond the long arm of the law by hightailing it to a church or monastery, where supposedly divine law trumped the […]
I suppose that the literal definition of a ‘moonshot’ is the act of sending a rocket to the moon. Interestingly, there is another set of metaphorical definitions I found online which include: an ambitious, exploratory and ground-breaking project undertaken without any expectation of near-term profitability or benefit and also, perhaps, without a full investigation of […]
When it comes to Islamist terrorism there is a lot we know and a lot we don’t. We may not be able to predict – ever – why and when a given individual chooses to adopt the violent radical ideology that leads him or her to engage in acts of extremism, but we do have […]
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Terrorism is cheap: get used to it.
How much money do you carry in your wallet? If you are Canadian not much. We are apparently the world’s most frequent users of debit, followed by the Swedes. So I guess not much then. Before the dawn of debit, though, I would wager that most people carried $60-100 on them at any given time. […]
I remember it as if it were yesterday. My first day at CSE was July 14, 1983. I moved to Ottawa from London (ON) and went to the Sir Leonard Tilley Building where I was brought to a former RCMP officer I’ll call ‘Joe’ who provided me my security indoctrination. After outlining what CSE did […]
Is there anything more aggravating than meandering slowly through a security line at an airport? We’ve all been there and we all hate it. People have missed flights because they were delayed at checkpoints and we have all suffered insults to our ‘dignity’ because of the need to comply with security demands (Who left liquids […]