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

Putin's Drone Hit a NATO Nerve in Poland, Opening an Opportunity for Ukraine

A Cipher Brief on the ground interview with General David Petraeus (Ret.)

Putin's Drone Hit a NATO Nerve in Poland, Opening an Opportunity for Ukraine

EXPERT INTERVIEW – More Western leaders and national security experts are now saying that Russia’s recent drone incursion into Poland was not a [...] More

RussiaUkraineNATOEurope

The Open Source Report

Facing Russia Threat and U.S. Pivot, Poland Prepares for War

Report for Friday, September 12, 2025

Poland working with Ukraine, European allies to boost air defenses

Qatari PM visits Washington to discuss Israeli strike, Gaza ceasefire talks

China's newest aircraft carrier sails through Taiwan Strait into South China Sea

Merz calls for supercharged German spy service

Access Today’s Report

Expert Insights

Cipher Brief Experts bring context to today’s global events

Inside Ukraine's Innovation Under Fire

Joey Gagnard

Cipher Brief exclusive: Retired CW5 Joey Gagnard details how Ukrainian commanders are rewriting the rulebook on tech, tactics, and survival.EXPERT Q&A —This week, after the Russian drone incursions into Poland, Ukrainian [...] More

Joey GagnardRussiaUkraineTech/CyberEuropemilitary

Why Russia Remains a Key Threat Behind the China Axis

Glenn Corn

OPINION — You can never count Russia out. More than three years after Vladimir Putin’s failed blitzkrieg on Kyiv, Moscow is proving it still has plenty of punch on the world stage as Putin continues to pursue his brutal [...] More

RussiaChinaEuropeAsia
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News & Analysis

Officials Consider Response as Russian Drones Cross a Line in Poland

Officials Consider Response as Russian Drones Cross a Line in Poland

DEEP DIVE - Russia’s drone barrage against Poland early Wednesday was an unprecedented incident in Moscow’s three-and-a-half-year war against [...] More

EuropeNATO

Opinion

Russia Pays the Price as Ukraine Targets Its Oil Refineries

David Kirichenko

Russia Pays the Price as Ukraine Targets Its Oil Refineries

OPINION — Following Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, Vladimir Putin expected a swift victory from his “special military operation.” Instead, it [...] More

David KirichenkoUkraineEuropeAlternative Perspectives
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The Drone Threat to America: Former CIA Alec Bierbauerplay icon

The Drone Threat to America: Former CIA Alec Bierbauer

Interview with former Senior CIA Officer Ralph Goff

Book Reviews

The Sword of Freedom: Blueprint for Survival and Resilience
The Sword of Freedom: Blueprint for Survival and Resilience

The Daring Danes Who Defied the Nazis
The Daring Danes Who Defied the Nazis

Going at China's Breakneck Pace
Going at China's Breakneck Pace

Breakneck: China's Quest to Engineer the Future

Washington’s Best National Security Gossip

CHINA KILLS ‘IMMORTAL’ VIDEO: Remember that recent video of President Xi and Putin caught on a hot mic talking about how organ transplants may soon allow people to live to 150 years old? Good thing you remember it – since China is working hard to make sure you never see it again. The video was made during the military parade in Beijing celebrating the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. China’s state television outfit, China Central Television, licensed coverage of the event to western media. Reuters picked up the hot mic exchange and posted a story about it. But then Reuters “withdrew” the video saying CCTV [...] More

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Threat Conference

Threat Conference

The Cipher Brief Threat Conference is the nation’s premier forum for non-partisan discussion of global threats and solutions as well as high-level [...] More

Upcoming: 19 October, 2025

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State Secrets


Cover Stories: Spies, Books & Entertainment


Author and former Marine Elliot Ackerman’s latest tale is about an ex-CIA Ground Branch operator who goes by his call sign, “Skwerl” and a former Afghan special ops pilot who goes by the name “Big Cheese” so you’re probably already getting a good picture of Ackerman’s latest novel Sheepdogs, which follows Skwerl and Cheese on a globe-trotting adventure from Uganda to Marseille. Cipher Brief CEO & Publisher Suzanne Kelly welcomed Ackerman to the Cover Stories Studio to talk about missing handlers, hidden cargo and shadow war.