Kawser Ahmed

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Guns for hire are on the increase in Canada. Motives for a crime may be split among the shooter, recruiter, payer, ideological ecosystem and sometimes a foreign or transnational criminal sponsor. (Max Kleinen/Unsplash)

Shooters for hire: What’s fuelling the Canadian increase in outsourced violence?

Kawser Ahmed, University of Manitoba

Shooters are becoming freelance contractors. Their target’s ideology is entirely irrelevant to them and their involvement is purely transactional.
Smoke rises from debris and corrugated roofing of a school that was burned to the ground in Taung Myint village in Myanmar in October 2022 during an intensification of fighting in the country’s civil war. (AP Photo)

Myanmar’s forgotten war: How the world is failing the test of the UN’s Responsibility to Protect

Kawser Ahmed, University of Manitoba

The war in Myanmar draws far less western attention than Ukraine or the Middle East. Why is such an enduring and intractable conflict being treated with so little urgency?
A man in northern Tehran sits on a bench on April 12, 2026, at a memorial honouring schoolchildren killed during a U.S. strike on a school in the southern town of Minab a few weeks earlier. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Failed peace deal: The Iran war has inflicted a cascade of losses that may never be recovered

Kawser Ahmed, University of Manitoba

For a country that built the post-1945 rules-based order, the United States now needs to be rescued from its own war by the very nations it once lectured on governance and peace.
A cleric and other demonstrators chant slogans during a pro-government gathering in a square in western Tehran, Iran, on March 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

After the Iran war: 5 possible outcomes and 4 ways Canada can flex its middle‑power muscle

Kawser Ahmed, University of Manitoba

Wars that define eras are remembered not just for how they are fought, but for what follows. For Canada, the end of the Iran war will be a chance to lead with clarity, consistency and purpose.
Candles sit on the ground as people attend a vigil for the victims of a mass shooting, in Tumbler Ridge, B.C., Feb. 13, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christinne Muschi

Nihilistic violent extremist networks recruit vulnerable people — and our youth need support

Kawser Ahmed, University of Manitoba

Strategies to prevent youth radicalization into violence should prioritize a grievance-oriented and trauma-informed approach, and emphasize exit from the online world while reducing exclusion.
The RCMP says four people, including active members of the Canadian Armed Forces, are facing charges after allegedly plotting to “forcibly take possession” of land in the Québec City area. This RCMP handout image shows firearms seized by police. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout — Québec RCMP

Charges against Canadian Army members in anti‑government terror plot raise alarms about right‑wing extremism

Kawser Ahmed, University of Winnipeg

Extremist ideas are slowly taking hold in Canada as adherents aim to leverage military training to spread cynicism about democratic institutions.
Social media fuelled conspiracy theories often exist in echo chambers, where misinformation was amplified often without verification or critical examination. (Shutterstock)

How conspiracy theories polarize society and provoke violence

Kawser Ahmed, University of Winnipeg

Conspiracy theories aren’t based so much on objective facts, but rather through often loosely connected bits of information. That makes them potent sources of misinformation.
Commissioner Justice Marie-Josée Hogue makes her way to the stage to deliver remarks on the interim report of the Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference in Federal Electoral Processes and Democratic Institutions on May 3, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

New commission sheds light on how diaspora communities are impacted by foreign interference

Maria Cheung, University of Manitoba and Kawser Ahmed, University of Winnipeg

The perspectives of people from diaspora communities on how to stop foreign interference must be part of Canada’s electoral landscape so that Canadian democracy remains resilient.
Anti-war movements can yield much positive coalition building towards peace, but can also trigger backlash. Protesters gather in an encampment set up on the University of Toronto campus in Toronto on May 2, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov

University campuses should be places of peacemaking, not venues for proxy wars

Kawser Ahmed, University of Winnipeg

Communication about conflict is the fundamental starting point for future action. In modeling non-violent communication, university leaders can proactively counter potential extremism.
Countering extremist anti-immigrant and racist attitudes and recruiting in Manitoba requires new approaches. Here, on the right, Hazel Ismail, with No One Is Illegal, calls for Winnipeg to become a sanctuary city, Feb. 3, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods

Communities can combat racism, hate and extremism with education

Kawser Ahmed, University of Winnipeg

Manitoba faces pressing facing demands for new ways of forming relationships with young people to counter hate.

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