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Loosening the Gordian Knot of Global Terrorism: Why Legitimacy Must Anchor a Counterterrorism Strategy

Christopher Costa

Loosening the Gordian Knot of Global Terrorism: Why Legitimacy Must Anchor a Counterterrorism Strategy

OPINION — The global terrorism landscape in 2026 — the 25th anniversary year of the 9/11 terrorism attacks — is more uncertain, hybridized, and [...] More

AmericasNorth AmericaUnited StatesTerrorismChristopher Costa

The Latest

We Need More Than Just a Command Shakeup in the U.S. Military

Renee Pruneau Novakoff

We Need More Than Just a Command Shakeup in the U.S. Military

EXPERT OPINION — Reports came out last week that claim the Chairman of Joint Staff, General Dan Caine, is preparing a new unified command plan (UCP) [...] More

AmericasNorth AmericaRenee Pruneau NovakoffUnited Statesmilitary

Dear Mr. President: A Former CIA Officer’s Unvarnished Brief on Putin

Glenn Corn

Dear Mr. President: A Former CIA Officer’s Unvarnished Brief on Putin

Dear Mr. President:I am hoping you remember me. I spent about 90 minutes with you and much of your cabinet in the Oval Office in the spring of 2017, [...] More

AmericasUkraineNorth AmericaUnited StatesEurope
OPINION: Assessing the State of our National Security

OPINION: Assessing the State of our National Security

EXPERT PERSPECTIVE / OPINION – I had the pleasure of delivering the opening address at the recent Cipher Brief HONORS Dinner where we recognized some [...] More

DoDAmericasUnited Statesnational securityMichael Vickers
Abrupt Changes at the top of the National Security Agency Risk Destabilization
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includes exclusive reporting

Abrupt Changes at the top of the National Security Agency Risk Destabilization

EXCLUSIVE CIPHER BRIEF REPORTING — The Cipher Brief was the first to report on Thursday in the weekly Dead Drop column that Director of the National [...] More

Tech/CyberAmericasCyberUnited Statesnational security
A Personal Message of Thanks from The Cipher Brief
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editorial

A Personal Message of Thanks from The Cipher Brief

A PERSONAL MESSAGE / OPINION — In this space that’s normally reserved for world-class reporting and analysis of global security issues, we thought [...] More

IntelligenceAmericasUnited Statesnational security
The U.S. is in the Midst of a Perfect 'Cognitive Warfare' Storm
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expert perspective

The U.S. is in the Midst of a Perfect 'Cognitive Warfare' Storm

During the 2024 Cipher Brief Threat Conference, Dave Pitts joined Brad Christian, Mike Vickers, and Ralph Goff in a discussion about Gray Zone [...] More

ChinaAmericasRussiaDave PittsIntelligenceUnited StatesCIAEuropeAsiaReporting
America's National Security Wake-Up Call
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expert interview

America's National Security Wake-Up Call

SUBSCRIBER+EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW – A recent report issued by the Congressionally-mandated Commission on the National Defense Strategy paints a bleak [...] More

national securityUnited StatesAmericas

How U.S. Adversaries are Eyeing Our Presidential Election

Mark Kelton

How U.S. Adversaries are Eyeing Our Presidential Election

OPINION — Describing the conditions that set the stage for history’s largest, most costly war, Winston Churchill wrote in The Gathering Storm, “The [...] More

ChinaRussiaIranUnited States
National Security Lessons from Crowdstrike's Global Disaster
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analysis

National Security Lessons from Crowdstrike's Global Disaster

SUBSCRIBER+EXCLUSIVE ANALYSIS – As the world gets back online after a global outage that impacted some 8.5 million individual devices around the [...] More

Tech/CyberAmericasCyberUnited StatesCyber Initiatives Groupnational securityReporting
Outgoing NCTC Director Lays Out Today's Very Real Terrorist Threat
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exclusive

Outgoing NCTC Director Lays Out Today's Very Real Terrorist Threat

EXPERT Q&A — Christine “Christy” Abizaid was sworn in as director of the National Counter-Terrorism Center (NCTC) in June of 2021, as the threat of [...] More

national securityAmericasUnited StatesTerrorismReporting
Assassination Attempt on Trump Could Fuel FBI's Biggest Fear: Terrorism

Assassination Attempt on Trump Could Fuel FBI's Biggest Fear: Terrorism

EXPERT Q&A – As the FBI investigates the reasons why 20-year-old suspect Thomas Matthew Crooks may have targeted former president Donald Trump at a [...] More

ReportingAmericasCounterterrorismUnited StatesTerrorism
'Havana Syndrome' - and a Possible Russia Connection

'Havana Syndrome' - and a Possible Russia Connection

SUBSCRIBER+ INTERVIEW — Who – or what – is to blame for the debilitating symptoms known as “Havana Syndrome”? The question has been asked repeatedly [...] More

CIAAmericasUnited Statesnational securityReporting