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

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

As Cuba’s power grid collapses, Beijing and Moscow are exploiting Havana’s desperation to expand intelligence operations within striking distance of U.S. military installations.

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

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The Open Source Report

<span>Global Intelligence Report for Tuesday, February 17, 2026</span>

Global Intelligence Report for Tuesday, February 17, 2026

Trump says U.S., Cuba are talking in midst of oil blockade

Ukrainians head to Geneva for U.S.-brokered talks

Putin ally hints at navy deployment to stop European powers from seizing Russian vessels

India seizes three U.S.-sanctioned tankers linked to Iran amid heightened maritime surveillance


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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OPINION — “This memorandum consolidates approximately ten separate outdated memoranda that were inadequate to address the current, complex unmanned aircraft system (UAS) threat environment.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

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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

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News & Analysis

Inside the High-Stakes U.S. Pressure Campaign on Iran

Inside the High-Stakes U.S. Pressure Campaign on Iran

EXPERT INTERVIEW – U.S. officials say a second aircraft carrier will be deployed to the Middle East amid the administration’s efforts to pressure [...] More

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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

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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

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The Best National Security Gossip

ANALYST-WRITER-EXECUTIVE PRODUCER – Maybe not exactly Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy but it still sounds like a pretty exciting career path. Just ask David McCloskey, who Deadline says just signed a deal with Prologue Entertainment for a ‘first look’ at his future work. That means we should be looking for future film and television shows based on his best-selling novels. The State Secrets Podcast talked with McCloskey after his latest book, The Persian was published - and found out a few of the analyst-turned-novelist’s secrets for writing page-turning spy thrillers.SHIN BETTING SCANDAL: Remember when we speculated in the Dead [...] More

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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

The former head of one of the government’s most secret agencies, the National Security Agency, and the former Commander of U.S. Cyber Command, General Paul Nakasone (ret.) sits down with State Secrets to talk about the things he wishes every American knew when it comes to today’s cyber threats.

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.