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

Russia’s Intelligence Services After the War

Will they be held accountable for their failures?

A file picture taken 12 July 2007 shows the headquarters (aka Lubianka) of the Federal Security Service (FSB), the former KGB in Moscow.

EXPERT PERSPECTIVE — Russia’s intelligence services (RIS) have failed spectacularly in Ukraine: in planning, execution, and analysis, yet they will [...] More

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The Open Source Report

U.S. President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi arrive to speak to troops aboard USS George Washington at Fleet Activities Yokosuka on October 28, 2025 in Yokosuka, Japan.

Global Intelligence Report for Friday, November 21, 2025

US military has new options to pursue group tied to Venezuela’s Maduro, Pentagon says

Zelensky says he is ready to work on US-backed plan to end war in Ukraine

Polish PM says Russia-backed sabotage has crossed a critical line

US ‘has Sanae Takaichi’s back’ in Japan’s escalating row with China

Access Today’s Report

Expert Insights

Cipher Brief Experts bring context to today’s global events

I Was Cheney's CIA Briefer: This is the Dick Cheney I Knew

Matt Berrett

EXPERT PERSPECTIVE — About a week before being interviewed by Richard Bruce Cheney about whether I would be the right person to serve as his national security briefer, I broke a bone in my left foot. While bounding down [...] More

IraqMiddle East

How Myanmar’s Generals Crushed Democracy — And What Comes Next

Ambassador Joseph DeTrani

OPINION — After decades of military rule in Myanmar, free and fair general elections were permitted in 2015 and the National League for Democracy and its leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, won by a landslide. In February 2021, a [...] More

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News & Analysis

The Two-Front Nuclear Challenge: Iran, North Korea, and a New Era of U.S. Deterrence

The Two-Front Nuclear Challenge: Iran, North Korea, and a New Era of U.S. Deterrence

DEEP DIVE — While Washington is focused on Iran’s accelerating uranium-enrichment program and increasingly aggressive regional posture, an equally [...] More

IranNorth KoreaNuclearMiddle EastAsia

Opinion

The Downside to Mission Focus: Why the Intelligence Community Should Not Forget to Look Inward

Josh Kerbel

The Downside to Mission Focus: Why the Intelligence Community Should Not Forget to Look Inward

OPINION — Not long ago, I was talking to an old friend and China analyst about the need for Intelligence Community (IC) analysts to spend [...] More

IntelligenceAlternative Perspectives

What’s on The Cipher Brief’s Digital Channel

Tapping a China Vibe in South Koreaplay icon

Tapping a China Vibe in South Korea

The Open Source Report

Book Reviews

When the Chekists Took Up the Pen
When the Chekists Took Up the Pen

The Nazis Never Left. A Worthy Successor to a Classic Thriller
The Nazis Never Left. A Worthy Successor to a Classic Thriller

From OSS to AI: How Intelligence Must Evolve—Again
From OSS to AI: How Intelligence Must Evolve—Again

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The Best National Security Gossip

WHAT ABOUT THE SCULL AND CROSSBONES? The Washington Post reported recently that the U.S. Coast Guard had modified its stance on whether swastikas and nooses are definitely hate symbols – with new language in regulations saying only that they were “potentially divisive.” The acting commandant of the Coast Guard subsequently took to X to post a statement saying that “The claims that the U.S. Coast Guard will no longer classify swastikas, nooses or other extremist imagery as prohibited symbols are categorically false.” When last we checked – the WaPo hadn’t backed off on its reporting. I FOUGHT THE LAW AND THE LAW LOST: A [...] More

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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

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.