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- The Cipher Brief Open Source Report for Monday, June 6, 2022
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This is How Putin’s Strategic Patience May Pay Off in Ukraine
EXPERT PERSPECTIVE — Russia is gradually beginning to prevail in Ukraine and the West is just starting to lose focus. Neither France and Germany nor […] More
The Potential of Integrating Intelligence and Intuition
EXPERT PERSPECTIVE — When I was just starting out at CIA, there was an analyst in my group who worked in a particularly methodical way. […] More
Members Only The Waves left by the Sinking of the Moskva
“The Cipher Brief has become the most popular outlet for former intelligence officers; no media outlet is even a close second to The Cipher Brief […] More
Free Access A Path of Cooperation and Opportunity Between the U.S. and the UAE
This article is free to view for a limited timeThe impressive string of world leaders visiting the UAE following the recent death of Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed, made clear that the UAE plays an […] More
Members Only ‘Who’s The Fairest Vlad of All’: Expert Perspective on the Russian President’s Next Move
“The Cipher Brief has become the most popular outlet for former intelligence officers; no media outlet is even a close second to The Cipher Brief […] More
Each week, we deliver tidbits of national security gossip for our members.
This Week’s Dead Drop: June 17
BUZZ KILL: Remember all those stories about multiple incidents of mysterious swarms of small aerial vehicles that enveloped some U.S. Navy ships off Southern California in 2019? There was a lot of speculation that they might be an infestation of extraterrestrial aliens checking out the fleet. Well, not quite. The website TheDrive.com launched a FOIA request aimed at the Pentagon and got their hands on documents that indicate the mysterious objects were drones that were launched from an unresponsive Hong Kong-based civilian ship called the MV Bass Strait. TheDrive’s story includes Navy deck logs, photos, emails, and power point charts. The documents say some of the drones reached altitudes of 21,000 feet above sea level. Others came within 200 yards of Navy ships. [...]
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OPINION — The Senate Armed Services Committee, by an overwhelming bipartisan vote of 23-to-3 last Thursday, approved a fiscal 2023 Defense Authorization Bill that – [...] More
OPINION — Ukraine’s Black Sea ports have been blocked since Russia invaded the country on February 24. Today, Ukraine claims more than 25 million tons [...] More
OPINION — How much has the United States learned from past history about undertaking major, large-scale military assistance efforts such as the one now underway [...] More
OPINION — In the annals of US history in the Middle East, there are few moments ingrained in the psyche of US government officials more [...] More
What the Experts Say
Since retiring from CIA in 2017, I’ve been honored to be a part of the exceptional Cipher Brief team providing expert assessment – whether it’s nuclear proliferation, transnational terrorism, and climate change or hard targets like Iran, North Korea, China, and Russia – The Cipher Brief delivers without the predisposed ideological bias so often prevalent in today’s discourse.
Daniel Hoffman
Former CIA Chief of Station
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General Keith Alexander
Former Director, National Security Agency
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Norm Roule
Former National Intelligence Manager for Iran, ODNI
For privileged insights into the events of the day which shape the world of tomorrow, there is no better source than The Cipher Brief. Independent, fact-based, and infused with the hard-earned perspectives of its experts, The Cipher Brief stands apart and above.
Paul Kolbe
Director of The Intelligence Project at Harvard University's Belfer Center
The Cipher Brief has emerged as the go-to source for analysis and insights on cyber and national security. As the global security landscape has become increasingly complex, The Cipher Brief has become indispensable – providing a non-partisan platform for experts from government and business to share views, learn from each other, and work together to find new partners and solutions.
Matt Olsen
Former Director, National Counterterrorism Center