Tracking the Rise and Fall of Osama bin Laden
BOOK REVIEW: The Rise and Fall of Osama bin Laden By Peter Bergen / Simon & Schuster Reviewed by Toby Harnden (The Cipher Brief taps […] More
Archive for ‘Al-Qaeda’
Afghanistan’s Clear and Present Danger
Cipher Brief Expert Daniel Hoffman is a former Chief of Station with the Central Intelligence Agency. His combined 30 years of distinguished government service included […] More
How Can Blinken’s Bold Plan for Afghanistan Succeed?
Tim Willasey-Wilsey, Cipher Brief Expert Tim Willasey-Wilsey is a Cipher Brief Expert on Afghanistan and a visiting Professor of War Studies at King’s College, London […] More
Biden’s National Security Test
Cipher Brief Expert John McLaughlin is former Acting Director of the CIA, former Deputy CIA Director and is the Distinguished Practitioner in Residence at the […] More
A Consequential Killing in Tehran
“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
Trump’s Pre-Election Search for a National Security Win
“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
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s Legacy
This unique national-security focused expert insight can’t be generated for free. We invite you to support this kind of quality content by becoming a Cipher Brief […] More
Forever Enemies and Forever Wars
This unique national-security focused expert insight can’t be generated for free. We invite you to support this kind of quality content by becoming a Cipher Brief […] More
18 Years After the 9/11 Attacks, What is the Current State of Al-Qaeda?
Bottom Line Up Front Eighteen years after the al-Qaeda terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the group has evolved and looks much different today […] More
Dr. Shakil Afridi: How a Valuable U.S. Intelligence Asset Became a Liability
EDITORIAL/COMMENTARY — The house had been watched for quite some time. The home in Abbottabad was just about a mile from the Pakistani Military Academy […] More
If Hamza bin Laden is Dead, What does it mean for al-Qaeda?
Bottom Line up Front On Wednesday, several unnamed U.S. officials seemed to confirm the death of Hamza bin Laden, the son of al-Qaeda’s founder […] More
The Evolving Terrorist Threat
The Cipher Brief was recently invited to take part in the University of New Mexico’s Intelligence Symposium, covering a number of national (and international) security […] More
15 Years After Madrid Train Bombings, What Have We Learned?
Bottom Line Up Front • March 11, 2019 marks 15 years since the terrorist bombings of commuter trains in Madrid, Spain, that killed 192 […] More
4 Terrorism Questions for former NCTC Director Nicholas Rasmussen
This week’s release of the Intelligence Community’s unclassified Worldwide Threat Assessment made clear which groups the IC believes pose the greatest terrorist threats to the […] More
The Terrorist Threat to the U.S. Homeland
As part of the U.S. Intelligence Community’s Worldwide Threat Assessment this week, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats told the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence […] More
How to Kill Off A Withering Terrorist Organization
This is Cipher Brief Level I Member Only content. It can be accessed via login or by signing up to become a Cipher Brief Member. […] More
Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent: The Nucleus of Jihad in South Asia
Bottom Line Up Front The U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan will give terrorist groups like al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) more room to […] More
Terrorism in the West: Comparing the Threat in Europe and the U.S.
Bottom Line Up Front • In 2017, Europe suffered from the highest number of terrorist attacks linked to jihadist ideology in modern history. • […] More
One Bad Decision on Syria Doesn’t Necessarily Lead to Another
President Donald Trump now says U.S. troops will “slowly” be withdrawn from Syria after his controversial announcement in December, saying that troops would be pulled […] More
Preventing Terrorism Starts with a Plan
The Trump Administration’s National Strategy for Counterterrorism, released this past October, has received positive reviews for its balanced focus on the challenges associated with confronting […] More
The United States at War in Somalia
Bottom Line Up Front On December 17, the U.S. reported that it had conducted six airstrikes in Somalia, killing 62 militants from the al-Qaeda-linked […] More
Re-Evaluating Cyber Security for 2019
2018 was a rough year for customers and companies impacted by cyber breaches. Businesses from Under Armour to Facebook to Marriott were targeted by hackers, […] More
The High Operational Tempo of European Counterterrorism Operations
Bottom Line Up Front: On September 26, Danish police arrested two men on charges of trying to send money and drones to the Islamic State […] More
Iran’s False Narrative on Al Qaeda
The United States and its allies routinely describe Iran as the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism. Despite this designation, the regime proudly supports Hezbollah, […] More