Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

The Honors Awards
cipherbrief

Welcome! Log in to stay connected and make the most of your experience.

Input clean

The Cipher Brief: National Security news, analysis and expert commentary.

Washington’s Venezuelan Gamble: The Old Guard’s Continued Grip on Power

Maduro’s capture removed the regime’s figurehead - but the system that kept him in power remains firmly intact.

Washington’s Venezuelan Gamble: The Old Guard’s Continued Grip on Power

DEEP DIVE — More than six weeks after United States special forces extracted Nicolás Maduro from Caracas, Venezuela remains under the control of the [...] More

AmericasNorth America
Open Source Report logo

The Open Source Report

<span>Global Intelligence Report for Friday, February 20, 2026</span>

Global Intelligence Report for Friday, February 20, 2026

NORAD scrambles aircraft in response to Russian warplanes off of Alaska

Britain blocking U.S. from using air bases for potential Iran strikes

Europe surpasses U.S. as primary backer of Ukraine’s war effort

As U.S. mulls Iran strikes, Trump declines to make clear case for why, or why now


Access Today’s Report

Expert Insights

Cipher Brief Experts bring context to today’s global events

Defending the Homeland: Pentagon Shifts Strategy on Drone Threats

Walter Pincus

OPINION — “This memorandum consolidates approximately ten separate outdated memoranda that were inadequate to address the current, complex unmanned aircraft system (UAS) threat environment. The new guidance affects a [...] More

Walter PincusFine Print

Media Literacy Isn’t Enough Anymore

Jennifer Ewbank

OPINION — For years, media literacy has been treated as the solution to misinformation. I've advocated that position as well.Teach people to question headlines. Encourage them to check sources. Help them recognize bias [...] More

View More ›

News & Analysis

How Cuba's Infrastructure Crisis Is Opening the Door to Foreign Intelligence Networks

How Cuba's Infrastructure Crisis Is Opening the Door to Foreign Intelligence Networks

DEEP DIVE — On February 13, nighttime light emissions across major Cuban cities had dropped as much as 50 percent compared to historical averages — [...] More

AmericasNorth America

Opinion

EU Takes Aim at Tehran: IRGC Terror Listing Opens New Front in Europe’s Iran Policy

Michael Jacobson

EU Takes Aim at Tehran: IRGC Terror Listing Opens New Front in Europe’s Iran Policy

OPINION — On January 29, Europe found its voice against Iran’s apparatus of terror. The European Union (EU) announced that it is adding Iran’s [...] More

Middle EastEuropeAlternative Perspectives

What’s on The Cipher Brief’s Digital Channel

Book Reviews

The Gray Man’s Back—And the Body Count’s Rising
The Gray Man’s Back—And the Body Count’s Rising

Putin’s Long Shadow Over Post-Soviet Russia
Putin’s Long Shadow Over Post-Soviet Russia

The Architects of CIA Analysis
The Architects of CIA Analysis

dead dropdead drop

The Best National Security Gossip

FROM A BUNKER IN UKRAINE: TWO FORMER CIA OFFICERS SHARE INTEL — In this week’s State Secrets podcast, former CIA Chiefs of Station Ralph Goff and Glenn Corn joined The Cipher Brief from an underground bunker in Lviv, Ukraine as air sirens dominated the city. After nearly two weeks on the ground in Ukraine, Goff and Corn offered firsthand insights that go way beyond the headlines. The two former senior CIA officers talked battlefield realities, intelligence dynamics, and what Western policymakers may be missing about the current phase of the war - discussing whether current negotiations could be a Russian trap. You can [...] More

Get The Drop

Events

Live Events

The Cipher Brief 2026 HONORS Awards

The Cipher Brief 2026 HONORS Awards

Join us for the third annual Cipher Brief Honors Dinner, the evening of March 13, 2026. This Black-Tie event is invite only, please apply here for a [...] More

Upcoming: 13 March, 2026

Podcasts

State Secrets



Former CIA Chiefs of Station Ralph Goff and Glenn Corn have spent a lot of time on the ground in Ukraine. In this State Secrets podcast episode, they share details on what they’re seeing there now that isn’t making the headlines. Get the raw reporting with Goff and Corn in this special edition of the State Secrets Podcast.

Cover Stories: Spies, Books & Entertainment


David McCloskey, former CIA Analyst turned novelist is out with his fourth book, The Persian, about an Iranian dentist who is recruited by Mossad to take on a dangerous mission inside Iran. Cover Stories Host Suzanne Kelly digs in on how McCloskey’s real-life Intelligence background fueled his latest novel, and discovers a few of McCloskey’s own secrets along the way.