The CIA Director's Real Skills

April 20, 2019 | Doug Wise

On April 16, The New York Times published an article (in which I am quoted) with the headline, "Gina Haspel Relies on Spy Skills with Trump.  He Doesn't Always Listen." ...

Setting Global Rules in Cyberspace

April 19, 2019 | Christopher Painter

Christopher Painter has been on the vanguard of U.S. and international cyber issues for over twenty-five years and serves as a current Commissioner on the Global Commission for the Stability ...

It's Been Over 300 Days Since a Pentagon Press Briefing

April 19, 2019 | Admiral James Stavridis

For about six months now, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders has used her briefing room so little that officials might as well turn it back into the swimming pool it was ...

Dead Drop: April 19

April 19, 2019 | Anonymous

CIA DIRECTOR & INSTAGRAM: In a rare public appearance, CIA Director Gina Haspel told an audience at Auburn University this week that the Agency would be launching an Instagram account soon.  ...

What to Make of North Korea's Recent Weapons Test

April 18, 2019 | Joseph DeTrani

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw the testing of as a new ‘tactical guided weapon’ on Wednesday in the country’s first weapons test since talks between Kim Jong Un ...

Russia's Second Chance in Libya

April 18, 2019 | Johnny Herbst

The Cipher Brief's 'Academic Incubator' column features analysis and observations by current and recent students associated with national security-focused academic programs.  Earlier this month, the commander of the Libyan National ...

Burns' Back Channel to the Head of the Line

April 16, 2019 | The Back Channel

BOOK REVIEW: The Back Channel: A Memoir of American Diplomacy and the Case for Its Renewal By William Burns Reviewed by Gary Grappo, former U.S. Ambassador who held senior positions in Baghdad, Oman ...

The Evolving Terrorist Threat

April 15, 2019 | Emile Nakhleh

The Cipher Brief was recently invited to take part in the University of New Mexico’s Intelligence Symposium, covering a number of national (and international) security issues.    We took the ...

April 15, 2019 | Thomas Donahue

Cipher Brief Expert Thomas Donahue retired from CIA after 32 years of service. He served as the Chief Editor of the President’s Daily Brief and other CIA daily production during ...

April 10, 2019 | Brad Christian

The number of monthly apprehensions based on illegal border crossings hovers north of 90,000 people.   According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), more than 53,000 of the people ...

April 10, 2019 | Norman Roule

Iran’s Supreme National Security Council is taking retaliatory steps after President Donald Trump announced on Monday that the U.S. will designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a ‘foreign ...

April 09, 2019 | Walter Pincus

The U.S. is trying to quickly gear up the nation’s ability to fight in space and our best clues into just how they're planning to do it, are coming from ...

April 08, 2019 | To Catch A Spy

BOOK REVIEW: To Catch A Spy: The Art of Counterintelligence By James M. Olson Reviewed by Mark Kelton, Former Deputy Director for Counterintelligence, CIA The realm of counterintelligence (CI) is the ...

April 08, 2019 | The Cipher Brief

John Edwards spent 20 years at CIA in various operational and leadership positions.  He also spent 12 years in the private sector, working with two start-up companies before returning to ...

April 03, 2019 |

A lot has happened since China expert and Harvard Professor Graham Allison’s best-selling book on China, Destined for War: Can America and China Escape Thucydides Trap was published in 2017. ...

March 27, 2019 | Mark Kelton

In part two of 'The Coming Chinese Storm', former Deputy Director for Counterintelligence at the CIA's National Clandestine Service, Mark Kelton, lays out the Chinese threat to both the public ...

March 25, 2019 | Mark Kelton

The Cipher Brief is engaging with dozens of Cipher Brief experts, government speakers and private industry executives this week on the national security challenges that are impacting the public and ...

March 20, 2019 | The Cipher Brief

Negotiations have wrapped up between the U.S. and the Taliban, with both sides citing ‘progress’ but nothing groundbreaking in terms of a settlement.  These are the longest talks of their ...

March 19, 2019 | The Cipher Brief

Under/Cover is constantly probing for insights that will help readers (and writers) understand how to gauge demand, and how to know if that story they have burning inside of them, ...

March 18, 2019 | Tim Willasey-Wilsey

It needs no more than 4 bad decisions for India and Pakistan to go to war; and 5 for that war to go nuclear. So how did the Pulwama crisis ...

March 13, 2019 | The Cipher Brief

Predicting the future of Cloud computing is a bit like predicting the weather:  there are certain knowns that you can set a clock by, but there are unknowns about the ...

March 11, 2019 | The Cipher Brief

When DHS was established shortly after 9/11, terrorism was the focus. But in the 16 years since the Agency’s creation, the threat landscape has changed dramatically and cyber now plays ...

April 19, 2019 | Anonymous

CIA DIRECTOR & INSTAGRAM: In a rare public appearance, CIA Director Gina Haspel told an audience at Auburn University this week that the Agency would be launching an Instagram account soon.  ...

April 15, 2019 | Thomas Donahue

Cipher Brief Expert Thomas Donahue retired from CIA after 32 years of service. He served as the Chief Editor of the President’s Daily Brief and other CIA daily production during ...

April 10, 2019 | Brad Christian

The number of monthly apprehensions based on illegal border crossings hovers north of 90,000 people.   According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), more than 53,000 of the people ...

April 08, 2019 | The Cipher Brief

John Edwards spent 20 years at CIA in various operational and leadership positions.  He also spent 12 years in the private sector, working with two start-up companies before returning to ...

April 03, 2019 |

A lot has happened since China expert and Harvard Professor Graham Allison’s best-selling book on China, Destined for War: Can America and China Escape Thucydides Trap was published in 2017. ...

March 27, 2019 | Mark Kelton

In part two of 'The Coming Chinese Storm', former Deputy Director for Counterintelligence at the CIA's National Clandestine Service, Mark Kelton, lays out the Chinese threat to both the public ...

March 25, 2019 | Mark Kelton

The Cipher Brief is engaging with dozens of Cipher Brief experts, government speakers and private industry executives this week on the national security challenges that are impacting the public and ...

March 20, 2019 | The Cipher Brief

Negotiations have wrapped up between the U.S. and the Taliban, with both sides citing ‘progress’ but nothing groundbreaking in terms of a settlement.  These are the longest talks of their ...

March 19, 2019 | The Cipher Brief

Under/Cover is constantly probing for insights that will help readers (and writers) understand how to gauge demand, and how to know if that story they have burning inside of them, ...

March 18, 2019 | Tim Willasey-Wilsey

It needs no more than 4 bad decisions for India and Pakistan to go to war; and 5 for that war to go nuclear. So how did the Pulwama crisis ...

March 13, 2019 | The Cipher Brief

Predicting the future of Cloud computing is a bit like predicting the weather:  there are certain knowns that you can set a clock by, but there are unknowns about the ...

March 11, 2019 | The Cipher Brief

When DHS was established shortly after 9/11, terrorism was the focus. But in the 16 years since the Agency’s creation, the threat landscape has changed dramatically and cyber now plays ...