Search: “Terrorists”

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 […]

I have already blogged about the use of fear by the governing Conservatives in the most recent Canadian federal election.  Voters were showered with warnings that the Islamic State was everywhere (and may be coming to a bedroom near you) and that only by returning Mr, Harper and his crew would Canadians truly be safe. […]

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 […]

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 […]

If there is one thing that terrorist groups like the Islamic State are good at doing, it is getting their message out.  Videos, blogs, tweets, online magazines like Dabiq,  photos and other social media promote the group’s goals, strike fear in the hearts of many and at the same time draw Westerners and others to […]

Spoiler alert: I am not getting into the debate about “one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter” (sorry). The word “terrorist” conjures up all kinds of images, from shadowy figures with evil intent to soulless monsters who like to kill.  Complicating matters is the plethora of definitions out there.  Every country – and even […]

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 […]

I just saw a very interesting, and disturbing, movie at a downtown Ottawa cinema. “The Stanford Prison Experiment” is an account of the famous (infamous?) 1971 psychological study aimed at determining how people act in a particularly brutal setting (i.e. jail). Volunteers (who were paid $15 a day for what was planned as a two-week […]

Another mass shooting in the US.  Another nation in grief.  Another set of questions on Why?  Another series of calls to prevent future incidents.  Why can’t the (fill in the blank – government/academe/science/police) profile people who engage in mass killings and stop them before they shoot?  What is so hard about all this?  After all, […]