About WiserGuidance
What does "WiserGuidance" mean?
The inspiration for this--and its title--comes from a proverb that in one section states "...by wise guidance you can make your war, and in a multitude of counselors there is safety..."
Fundamentally this quote is about good intelligence ("wise guidance") and good analysis ("multitude of counselors"). While the author agrees that good intelligence and analysis are critical to "make war," they also recognize that good intelligence is important to non-war scenarios, including countering misinformation, counter-violent extremism campaigns, counter-insurgency, and more. And with the "democratization of intelligence" through open-source tools and strategies, good intelligence has never been more accessible.
This site was created as a place to mine, aggregate, and analyze open-source data on extremism, terrorism, and state-sponsored violence, producing periodic reports on the findings. In addition to providing insightful analysis, this site will also document the author's open-source intelligence learning journey and feature the occasional book or movie review related to intelligence.
The ultimate goal is in its name - providing "Wiser Guidance."
Alex Pack is a young intelligence analyst looking to build his skills while meaningfully contributing to making the world better. When not working on this site, Alex serves as a Researcher, Analyst, and Digital Marketing Manager at the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT) in Herzliya, Israel.
In addition to his work with the ICT, Alex has also served as a guest lecturer in BA and MA courses and currently works as a Teaching Assistant in several courses at Reichman University.
Alex holds a BA in Education, with an emphasis in History and Social Sciences from Maryville University, and recently completed the courses for the MA in Counter-Terrorism and Homeland Security, with an emphasis in cyber and extremist use of the internet, from the Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy, and Strategy at Reichman University. After completing the requirements for the MA in Counter-Terrorism and Homeland Security, Alex began writing his thesis under the supervision of Dr. Eitan Azani.
His primary research interests include counterterrorism, counter-insurgency, global far-right extremism, and terror/extremist use of the internet.
