A Call for New Open Source Leadership
OPINION — Today’s Intelligence Community (IC) open source capability is neglected, structurally compromised, and wholly inadequate to protect the United States. The failure of open […] More
Archive for ‘Intelligence’
Reviewing The Secret History of the Five Eyes
BOOK REVIEW: The Secret History of the Five Eyes: The Untold Story of the International Spy Network By Richard Kerbaj / Kings Road Publishing Reviewed […] More
Intelligence Community Help Wanted: Open Source Ninjas
OPINION – For those who have been privileged enough to read, write for, or brief the Intelligence Community’s President’s Daily Brief (PDB), the following quote […] More
Is This Our Digital Sputnik Moment?
“Just as we pulled together as a nation in the early days of the space race, we simply must redouble our efforts to develop the […] More
Three Strategies to Power the Intelligence Community Workforce
PRIVATE SECTOR PERSPECTIVE — National security leaders know that adapting faster to escalating change and nation-state competition is imperative, yet how to choose the most […] More
5 Gals who paved a ‘way’ at CIA
BOOK REVIEW: Wise Gals: The Spies Who Built the CIA and Changed the Future of Espionage By Nathalia Holt / G.P. Putnam’s Sons Reviewed by […] More
World War II and the Rise of American Intelligence
BOOK REVIEW: Need to Know: World War II and the Rise of American Intelligence By Nicholas Reynolds / Mariner Books Reviewed by William Nolte The […] More
What I Learned Writing for the President’s Daily Brief
EXPERT INSIGHT — As an analyst at the Central Intelligence Agency for 15 years, I spent a great deal of time writing for the President’s […] More
What Mar-a-Lago is Teaching Us About the Declassification Process
OPINION — The Public Interest Declassification Board (PIDB) is an inconspicuous presidential advisory board created by Congress in 2000, to advise “the President and other […] More
IT Modernization in the IC – Part I
By Jill Singer, Vice President, Defense & National Security, AT&T Public Sector & FirstNet SPONSORED How advanced technologies support IC mission effectiveness In the Intelligence […] More
A Deep Dive into the US-UK Special Intelligence Relationship
BOOK REVIEW: The Real Special Relationship: The True Story of how the British and US Secret Services Work Together By Michael Smith / Simon & […] More
The Significance of al-Zawahiri’s Death
OPINION — There are undoubtedly those who wonder why the President of the United States would bother to address the American public about the death […] More
Are Intelligence Community Employees Flawed?
In Part I of this Opinion Series on Innovation, I explained How the Intelligence Community Kills Ideas and specifically illustrated how IC bureaucracy crushed employee […] More
An Opinion Series on Innovation: How the Intelligence Community Kills Ideas
OPINION — I recently saw a creative idea killed. Like a professional hit, the kill was silent and non-attributable. Managers essentially neutralized the employee—let’s call […] More
The Drone Series: Expanding Horizons for Drone Technology
EXPERT PERSPECTIVE: Superlatives have been piling up about a weapon of war that’s been around for decades, but has taken on new prominence across the battlefields […] More
Resilience, National Security and the Immediate Need for Action
EXPERT PERSPECTIVE — Resilience is a word we hear a lot, but what does it mean and why should we care? And how do we […] More
Art Imitates Real Intelligence
ESSAY — Never underestimate the power of a well-written satire to challenge conventional wisdom. A year or so after the Iraq war had made a […] More
The Potential of Integrating Intelligence and Intuition
EXPERT PERSPECTIVE — When I was just starting out at CIA, there was an analyst in my group who worked in a particularly methodical way. […] More
These are Turbulent Times for Australian National Security
This piece from Cipher Brief Expert Nick Warner was first published in The Australian and is re-published with permission from the author. OPINION — We […] More
The Spies Sent Back to the Cold
EXPERT ANALYSIS — Since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine began, Europe has embarked on a purge of Russian spies that has been described as “the largest mass […] More
The Slippery Slope of Intelligence Sharing with Ukraine
OPINION — More than two months into the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, a number of key security developments have emerged, some of which have […] More
Commercial Intelligence in the Gray Zone
Ian Conway is a private intelligence analyst supporting international legal investigations and investors in high-risk frontier markets. He has more than two decades of analytical […] More
Ukraine Declassified: Intelligence Sharing on the Edge
Wednesday, May 18, 2022, 1:30–2:30pm ET Expert Guests: Beth Sanner, Former Deputy Director for National Intelligence, ODNI Lt. Gen. Bob Ashley (Ret.), former Director, Defense […] More
Call out Chinese Spying for the Threat it Is
OPINION — “The beginning of wisdom”, according to a quote ascribed to Confucius, “is to call things by their proper name.” That saying came to […] More