Episodes
Wednesday Apr 29, 2020
Intelligence Veteran and Terrorism Specialist Reviews Caliphate - Episode 1
Wednesday Apr 29, 2020
Wednesday Apr 29, 2020
The Swedish series Caliphate is getting a lot of attention. It is the story of ISIS and a planned attack in Sweden and the local intelligence effort to stop it. Here is an unofficial ‘review’ by a 30-year intelligence veteran and terrorism specialist.
Join Borealis as we walk through each episode and discuss what happened. We will look at how accurate the fictional depiction is, all seen through the lens of a 32-year Canadian intelligence veteran and author of five books on terrorism.
Tuesday Apr 28, 2020
Episode 38 - A talk with former CSIS Director Ward Elcock
Tuesday Apr 28, 2020
Tuesday Apr 28, 2020
Ward Elcock was the Director of CSIS from 1994 to 2004 and saw the organisation through 9/11 and its aftermath. He joins Borealis to reflect on his years in security intelligence and where we are going next.
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Ward P.D. Elcock is a Canadian civil servant who served as the Director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service from 1994 until May 2004. He remains the only Director to have ever served out his entire tenure. He served as the Deputy Minister of National Defence from August 5, 2004 to October 1, 2007.
Phil Gurski is the President and CEO of Borealis Threat and Risk Consulting Ltd. and Programme Director for the Security, Economics and Technology (SET) hub at the University of Ottawa’s Professional Development Institute (PDI). He worked as a senior strategic analyst at CSIS (Canadian Security Intelligence Service) from 2001-2015, specializing in violent Islamist-inspired homegrown terrorism and radicalisation.
> borealisthreatandrisk.com
> Like this podcast? Check out Phil Gurski's latest books!
> Read Phil's daily blog Today in Terrorism
Thursday Apr 23, 2020
April 23, 2013 | 4 Days of Carnage in Iraq
Thursday Apr 23, 2020
Thursday Apr 23, 2020
The state has the right to put down violent movements, but what if the cure is worse than the illness?
Over four days in April 2013, more than 330 Iraqis were killed and close to 600 wounded in terrorist attacks and other forms of violence.
Read more: https://borealisthreatandrisk.com/2013-massacres-in-iraq
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> Read Phil's daily blog Today in Terrorism
> borealisthreatandrisk.com
> Check out Phil latest book When Religion Kills: How Extremists Justify Violence Through Faith
Wednesday Apr 22, 2020
April 22, 1997 | Hostage Taking in Peru
Wednesday Apr 22, 2020
Wednesday Apr 22, 2020
Being held hostage cannot be a fun time: how about being held hostage for 126 days?
On this day in 2997, a 4-month hostage taking at the Japanese Embassy in Peru ended with the deaths of 14 MRTA Marxist terrorists.
Read more: https://borealisthreatandrisk.com/1997-hostage-taking-in-peru
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> Read Phil's daily blog Today in Terrorism
> borealisthreatandrisk.com
> Check out Phil latest book When Religion Kills: How Extremists Justify Violence Through Faith
Tuesday Apr 21, 2020
Tuesday Apr 21, 2020
Michael Petrou wrote a book back in 2008 on why 1,500 Canadians went to fight in the Spanish Civil War and what concerns their return raised. He joins Borealis to discuss what lessons we can apply to the worries about returning ISIS ‘foreign fighters’.
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Michael Petrou is an historian and journalist. His 2008 book, Renegades: Canadians in the Spanish Civil War, was described by J. L. Granatstein as “the best and most complete account of Canadians in the Spanish Civil War we are ever likely to get. The Spanish newspaper El Pais called it “beautiful.”
Phil Gurski is the President and CEO of Borealis Threat and Risk Consulting Ltd. and Programme Director for the Security, Economics and Technology (SET) hub at the University of Ottawa’s Professional Development Institute (PDI). He worked as a senior strategic analyst at CSIS (Canadian Security Intelligence Service) from 2001-2015, specializing in violent Islamist-inspired homegrown terrorism and radicalisation.
> borealisthreatandrisk.com
> Like this podcast? Check out Phil Gurski's latest books!
> Read Phil's daily blog Today in Terrorism
Tuesday Apr 21, 2020
April 21, 2016 | Massacre by ISIS in Mosul
Tuesday Apr 21, 2020
Tuesday Apr 21, 2020
Imagine being held by a terrorist group like ISIS and told you had a choice: becoming a sex slave or death.
ISIS massacred 250 women and girls in the Iraqi city of Mosul when they refused to become sex slaves for the terrorist group.
Read more: https://borealisthreatandrisk.com/2016-massacre-by-isis-in-mosul
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> Read Phil's daily blog Today in Terrorism
> borealisthreatandrisk.com
> Check out Phil latest book When Religion Kills: How Extremists Justify Violence Through Faith
Monday Apr 20, 2020
Quick Hits: Nova Scotia Mass Shooting
Monday Apr 20, 2020
Monday Apr 20, 2020
An unspeakable crime has occurred in Nova Scotia with the deaths of 18 people, including an RCMP officer. What do we know about the killer? Was this terrorism? Was it tied to COVID-19? Will we ever find out?
Read latest publication by Phil Gurski: The Nova Scotia massacre – more questions than answers
Monday Apr 20, 2020
Quick Hits: Is a dead terrorist a good terrorist?
Monday Apr 20, 2020
Monday Apr 20, 2020
Is it ok to kill terrorists regardless of the circumstances? Is a dead terrorist a good terrorist? In this Quick Hits podcast, I look at the pros and cons of taking out terrorists using lethal force.
Monday Apr 20, 2020
April 20, 1995 | LRA Massacre in Uganda
Monday Apr 20, 2020
Monday Apr 20, 2020
We all have heard the phrase ‘taking the Lord’s name in vain: how about a group that kills 300 people in this regard?
On this day in 1995 the LRA entered the northern Ugandan town of Atiak, defeated the Ugandan army stationed there and rounded up hundreds of men, women, students and young children where they were separated into two groups according to their sex and age.
Read more: https://borealisthreatandrisk.com/1995-lra-massacre-in-uganda
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> Read Phil's daily blog Today in Terrorism
> borealisthreatandrisk.com
> Check out Phil latest book When Religion Kills: How Extremists Justify Violence Through Faith
Sunday Apr 19, 2020
April 19, 1995 | Bombing of federal building in Oklahoma
Sunday Apr 19, 2020
Sunday Apr 19, 2020
Well before 9/11 a catastrophic act of terrorism was committed by an individual who had nothing to do with Islamist extremism.
On this day in 1995, an American rightwing terrorist exploded a truck bomb outside a federal building in Oklahoma killing 168 people, including children.
Read more: https://borealisthreatandrisk.com/1995-oklahoma-city-bombing
> Subsbribe to our free daily digest email
> Read Phil's daily blog Today in Terrorism
> borealisthreatandrisk.com
> Check out Phil latest book When Religion Kills: How Extremists Justify Violence Through Faith