The Cipher Brief

What Iran Wants and How It Can Still Fight

Amid fragile talks aimed at ending the war, former National Intelligence Manager for Iran Norm Roule explains why diplomacy with Tehran is so hard and how the regime still has plenty of asymmetric tools in its arsenal

Propaganda paintings with american flag an "Down with the USA text" in Tehran, Iran - stock photo

U.S. Vice President JD Vance is touting success out of the latest round of talks in Switzerland focused on seeking a permanent end to the war in [...] More

The Open Source Report

Expert Insights

Cipher Brief Experts bring context to today’s global events

Why Human Intelligence Matters More in an AI World

Why Human Intelligence Matters More in an AI World

An impending casualty of artificial intelligence, we are told, is the human spy. The conventional wisdom is that in our AI future, there’s little [...] More

What’s on The Cipher Brief’s Digital Channel

WHAT TO EXPECT FROM A NEW (ACTING) DNI – There is a new (acting) sheriff in town at Liberty Crossing with federal housing czar Bill Pulte picking up additional duties as Acting DNI after the outgoing DNI Tulsi Gabbard ended her stint earlier than expected last week. So what has the new boss been up to? Well, for one thing he has created an X account with the @DNIPulte. (No “acting” – probably just an oversight). When last we checked, @DNIPulte had three posts up – two of which were heroic images of President Trump. Beyond that – we’re not sure if he has started to carry out his reported threat to fire hundreds of DNI [...] More

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State Secrets

What happens when one of Hollywood's most influential futurists sits down with a former NSA Director?

In this special State Secrets conversation, Ronald D. Moore—the creator behind For All Mankind, Battlestar Galactica, and Star Trek—joins former NSA and U.S. Cyber Command Commander Gen. Timothy Haugh to explore the increasingly blurred line between science fiction and national security reality.

From the new space race and AI-powered disinformation to cyber warfare, Russia, China, and the future of conflict, this wide-ranging discussion reveals how the stories we imagine today may become tomorrow's strategic challenges.

Are we entering a technological revolution as consequential as the space race? And who is best positioned to anticipate what's next—the intelligence community or the storytellers imagining the future?