In the wake of information that the Christmas Day Nashville bomber believed in conspiracy theories, including the conviction that world leaders are actually extraterrestrial 'lizard people', does this now make his act one of terrorism? Borealis weighs in on this new info and whether the bomber was treated differently because he was white. Read more on this topic: ► Nashville explosion: Just what do we mean by ‘terrorism’? | Phil Gurski ► The Nashville explosion is looking more and more like a sp...
Jan 05, 2021•12 min
As we impatiently wait for more details on what happened in Nashville on Christmas Day we are now aware that the perpetrator said the world would never forget him. Does that make him a terrorist? Probably not. Borealis looks at serious acts of violence, including 'suicide bombings', that are not terrorist in nature. Mentionned articles: Sometimes an explosion is just an explosion by Phil Gurski What we know about the 63-year-old Nashville bomber on CNN simoncottee.org Dying Without Killing: Self...
Jan 01, 2021•13 min
The 2020 Global Terrorism Index had a bit of good news: terrorist deaths are down for the 4th year in a row. Will that continue into 2021? Borealis provides some ideas on what will be making terrorism headlines next year. ►Subscribe - https://borealisthreatandrisk.com/subscribe/ About the host Phil Gurski: Phil 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...
Dec 31, 2020•11 min
The recent explosion in Nashville has been deemed a 'suicide bombing'. Was it? We don't have a motive and we tend to see suicide bombings as acts of terrorism. Are we using the word terrorism consistently? Borealis looks at ways in which states and individuals twist the term to suit their purposes. ►Subscribe - https://borealisthreatandrisk.com/subscribe/ About the host Phil Gurski: Phil is the President and CEO of Borealis Threat and Risk Consulting Ltd. and Programme Director for the Security,...
Dec 30, 2020•14 min
In the wake of terrorist attacks in France, President Emmanuel Macron said that Islam was 'in crisis'. Not surprisingly, Muslim leaders pushed back, calling for boycotts of French goods. So what is this all about? Borealis is joined by Mustafa Akyol to look at the nuances of these issues. ►Subscribe - https://borealisthreatandrisk.com/subscribe/ About my guest Mustafa Akyol Mustafa Akyol is a Turkish journalist and author. SInce the early 2000's, he has been writing regular opinion columns for T...
Dec 29, 2020•39 min•Season 4Ep. 74
Many Muslim states went apoplectic when French President said that Islam was in crisis: French flags were burned and boyocotts of French goods were planned. And yet when it comes to what the PRC is doing with the incarceration of up to a million Uyghur Muslims there is no protest among these same states. What gives? Borealis looks into this odd discrepancy. ►Subscribe - https://borealisthreatandrisk.com/subscribe/ About the host Phil Gurski: Phil is the President and CEO of Borealis Threat and R...
Dec 28, 2020•11 min
A Somali ISIS wannabe just stabbed two Australian octogenarians to death. He had been arrested in 2019 for seeking to travel for terrorist purposes but was released for lack of evidence (although his passport was taken). Now he has killed two innocent people. What is going on here? Borealis takes our judicial system to task. ►Read ►Subscribe - https://borealisthreatandrisk.com/subscribe/ About the host Phil Gurski: Phil is the President and CEO of Borealis Threat and Risk Consulting Ltd. and Pro...
Dec 23, 2020•10 min
Israel has been at the forefront of violence since its creation and this violence once threatened its very existence. What is happening these days in that nation? Israeli analyst Joshua Krasna joins Borealis to look at these issues. About my guest Joshua Krasna Senior Fellow in the Foreign Policy Research Institute’s Program on the Middle East, is an analyst specializing in Middle East political and regional developments and forecasting, as well as in international strategic issues. Find out mor...
Dec 22, 2020•41 min•Season 4Ep. 73
Religion is a very personal thing and, for many, very important. That it can make someone a better person is indeed a good thing, but that is not always the case. For some, faith is something to impose on others, and, in some cases, kill for. Borealis looks at blasphemy accusations and links to religious terrorism. ►Read Blasphemy laws are still common around the world ►Subscribe - https://borealisthreatandrisk.com/subscribe/ About the host Phil Gurski: Phil is the President and CEO of Borealis ...
Dec 21, 2020•10 min
In the aftermath of the 2019 Christchurch mosque shootings , everyone is asking why Brenton Tarrant did what he did. Was it is violent household? His racist views? His online habits? Was any of this 'predictable'? Borealis pushes back against the notion that we can detect these events in advance. ►Read The warning signs in the Christchurch terrorist's Australian upbringing ►Read How should security services handle threat information ►Subscribe - https://borealisthreatandrisk.com/subscribe/ About...
Dec 18, 2020•10 min
Remember 'take this plane to Cuba"? What if I told you that airplane hijackings as a technique go back to the 1930s! Canadian scholar Yannick Veilleux-Lepage walks us through the 'evolution' of this phenomenon. About my guest Dr. Yannick Veilleux-Lepage Dr. Yannick Veilleux-Lepage is an Assistant Professor of Terrorism and Political violence at Leiden University in The Netherlands. He holds a doctorate in International Relations from the University of St Andrews in Scotland. His research interes...
Dec 15, 2020•35 min•Season 4Ep. 72
We in the West rightfully demand that our spy agencies obey the law and are not allowed to do a 'runaround'. We would also expect them to use any information they have access to help keep us safe. So, what to make of a new NSIRA report criticising CSIS for using open source info to help it do its job? ►Read CSIS use of geolocation data could be unlawful, says watchdog on CBC ►Subscribe - https://borealisthreatandrisk.com/subscribe/ About the host Phil Gurski: Phil is the President and CEO of Bor...
Dec 14, 2020•10 min
Many countries engage in programs to 'deradicalise' violent extremists or act to prevent them from going down the terrorism road in the first place. So what happens when other extremists show up seeking to recruit those being helped? In light of a case in Australia Borealis reflects on his own experience when a jihadi came to town. ►Subscribe - https://borealisthreatandrisk.com/subscribe/ About the host Phil Gurski: Phil is the President and CEO of Borealis Threat and Risk Consulting Ltd. and Pr...
Dec 14, 2020•10 min
This past Tuesday, an architect of an extraordinary Toronto 18 terrorism plot to detonate truck bombs in the city’s downtown core was granted day parole. And the outcome of the three hour parole hearing went against the recommendation of the Correctional Service of Canada. Libby Znaimer is joined by Phil Gurski, President and CEO of Borealis Threat and Risk Consultants as well as a former strategic analyst at CSIS, and Andrew House , Counsel and co-lead for the National Security Group at Fasken ...
Dec 11, 2020•17 min
In the wake of a brutal killing and beheading of a French teacher in October for his 'crime' of showing the Muhammad cartoons, a report has come out saying French security and intelligence services failed to "appreciate the gravity of the defamatory campaign on social media against the teacher". In other words, the French blew it. Or did they? Borealis discusses what the real world of monitoring online hate is all about. ►Read Samuel Paty: French security services failed to act over incendiary s...
Dec 11, 2020•9 min
There are a lot of sources of information available on all kinds of topics. If you want to stay abreast of what is happening from a national security/public safety angle you need to invest time and effort to find that information. Borealis offers some hints on how to do so. ►Subscribe - https://borealisthreatandrisk.com/subscribe/ About the host Phil Gurski: Phil is the President and CEO of Borealis Threat and Risk Consulting Ltd. and Programme Director for the Security, Economics and Technology...
Dec 09, 2020•11 min
What is it like to move from law enforcement to the private sector as head of security? What are the challenges of ensuring security for a large commercial centre? Borealis talks to Terry Chowanec, former head of National Security at Cadillac Fairview. About my guest Terry Chowanec Terry Chowanec is the former Vice President of National Security Operations with Cadillac Fairview Corporation, recently retiring from Cadillac Fairview after 12 years with the company. Prior to joining Cadillac Fairv...
Dec 08, 2020•46 min•Season 3Ep. 71
In the wake of the November 2 terrorist attack in Vienna in which 4 people died, the head of the Austrian security service resigned and the responsible minister has called for a review of the spy service. Austria apparently received but failed to act on intelligence from Germany and Slovakia. Was the attack a failure? Borealis wonders why security services are always blamed when things go wrong. ►Subscribe - https://borealisthreatandrisk.com/subscribe/ About the host Phil Gurski: Phil is the Pre...
Dec 07, 2020•9 min
2 American women were arrested last weekend for having placed wires across railway tracks in Washington state: they have been charged with terrorism. They apparently belong to an anarchist movement that has been sabotaging rails in protest over natural gas shipments. Was this an 'act of terrorism'? Listen as Borealis examines this case. ►Subscribe - https://borealisthreatandrisk.com/subscribe/ About the host Phil Gurski: Phil is the President and CEO of Borealis Threat and Risk Consulting Ltd. a...
Dec 04, 2020•9 min
Even if we cannot agree on what ‘terrorism’ is, we should be able to agree on what it isn’t. Legitimate non-violent dissent is not terrorism, and yet that label is used by many countries to outlaw this opposition. In this episode, Borealis looks at some recent abuses of the word ‘terrorism’ and calls on all countries to reject this usage. ►Subscribe - https://borealisthreatandrisk.com/subscribe/ About the host Phil Gurski: Phil is the President and CEO of Borealis Threat and Risk Consulting Ltd....
Dec 02, 2020•9 min
Journalists and intelligence operatives are actually quite similar. We both recruit sources, collect data and figure out what it all means. So, what is it like to cover terrorism for one of the world's leading dailies? Borealis has a chat with New York Times reporter Eric Schmitt. About my guest Eric Schmitt Eric Schmitt is a senior writer covering terrorism and national security for The New York Times. Since 2007, he has reported on terrorism issues, with assignments to Pakistan, Afghanistan, N...
Dec 01, 2020•26 min•Season 3Ep. 70
As a trial in Toronto of a man accused ot running down and killing 10 people in 2018 continues we are seeing various arguments about both the mental competence of the accused and whether his act could inspire others. Borealis sits down once again with incel specialist Naama Kates to look at what we can deduce from these hearings on incels. ►Subscribe - https://borealisthreatandrisk.com/subscribe/ About my guest Naama Kates: Investigative journalist Naama Kates dives deep inside the incel communi...
Nov 27, 2020•13 min
We all see things at work we don't like. We should have ways to talk about these issues, without airing dirty linen in public. So, what about those who betray intelligence secrets? What about Jonathan Pollard and Edward Snowden? Borealis looks at better ways to talk about concerns. ►Subscribe - https://borealisthreatandrisk.com/subscribe/ About the host Phil Gurski: Phil is the President and CEO of Borealis Threat and Risk Consulting Ltd. and Programme Director for the Security, Economics and Te...
Nov 25, 2020•10 min
It seems that all Western media want to talk about when it comes to terrorism these days is the far right. We need, or so many say, to shift out resources away from the jihadis we have been focused on for 20 years. Should we? What do the data say? Borealis looks at what facts tell us about terrorism in late 2020. ►Subscribe - https://borealisthreatandrisk.com/subscribe/ About the host Phil Gurski: Phil is the President and CEO of Borealis Threat and Risk Consulting Ltd. and Programme Director fo...
Nov 24, 2020•10 min
Militants, militias, insurgents, sects. These are just some of the terms used to describe what are in reality terrorists. Why the variation? Borealis weighs in on the terminology used to talk about terrorists. About the host Phil Gurski: Phil 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 ...
Nov 23, 2020•9 min
When you work in intelligence the first thing you learn is to say nothing publicly. All that knowledge is supposed to go to your grave with you. Thankfully, there are people out there who write very good books on all matters intelligence and Nigel West is one of them. He joins Borealis for a fascinating look at this murky world. About my guest Nigel West Nigel West is an author specialising in security, intelligence, secret service and espionage issues. He is the European Editor of the World Int...
Nov 21, 2020•32 min•Season 3Ep. 69
Canada’s cyber security agency has named China, Russia, Iran and North Korea as the ‘greatest strategic threats’ to Canada’s infrastructure, property and elections. I was invited on the Scott Thomspon Show to discuss this recent news and its impact for Canada. ► Listen to The Scott Thomspon Show About the host Phil Gurski: Phil 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 Otta...
Nov 21, 2020•10 min
As the trial of a Toronto man who drove a van down a busy street killing 10 gets underway doubt is raised as to whether he is mentally responsible. More importantly, he may not be the incel (involuntary celibate) he claimed to be. Borealis looks at why we should not call violent incels 'terrorists'. ►Subscribe - https://borealisthreatandrisk.com/subscribe/ About the host Phil Gurski: Phil is the President and CEO of Borealis Threat and Risk Consulting Ltd. and Programme Director for the Security...
Nov 20, 2020•11 min
While terrorism is an important issue it is not the only threat we face. To date, Borealis has focused almost exclusively on terrorism but it is time to broaden horizons. In this Quick Hits episode you'll hear what the new scope is as well as the new name for this short podcast! ►Subscribe - https://borealisthreatandrisk.com/subscribe/ About the host Phil Gurski: Phil is the President and CEO of Borealis Threat and Risk Consulting Ltd. and Programme Director for the Security, Economics and Techn...
Nov 18, 2020•12 min
Tens of thousands of Western citizens left their homes to join terrorist groups abroad such as Al Qaeda and ISIS. Many died, often killing many others in the process, while others are still active. A third cohort are in some kind of captivity and some want to bring them back. Borealis talks to David Malet, who has looked at this issue at great length. About my guest David Malet David Malet teaches Justice, Law and Criminology at the School of Public Affairs at American University. Previously he ...
Nov 17, 2020•42 min•Season 3Ep. 68
