How the U.S. is Tapping a Much Bigger Well in The Middle East
EXPERT DEEP DIVE – President Donald Trump’s first official trip to the Middle East during his current administration may have tapped a well that runs […] More
News & Analysis
Trump’s Gulf Tour: The Money Deals, the Diplomacy and What Comes Next
BOTTOM LINE UP FRONT – President Trump headed home Friday after a whirlwind four-day tour of the Persian Gulf that featured multibillion-dollar deals, an unprecedented […] More
What Could Follow the U.S. Surprise in Syria?
CIPHER BRIEF REPORTING – President Donald Trump made a number of headlines this week as he led an impressive delegation of government and private sector […] More
Arctic Worries: Melting Ice, and a Russia-China Partnership
DEEP DIVE – As more Arctic ice melts and more avenues for navigation and commerce open up at the top of the world, there’s a […] More
The Latest
For U.S. Defense Industry, These Minerals Really are ‘Critical’
DEEP DIVE – Coverage of the U.S.-China tariff war has focused on the impact for consumers – the potential for spikes in the prices of […] More
Trump’s Mideast Wish List: $1+ Trillion in Investments – and Some Diplomacy Too
EXPERT INTERVIEWS – President Donald Trump embarks this week on the first scheduled overseas trip of his second term (the funeral for Pope Francis having […] More
Assessing Putin and the ‘Axis of Authoritarians’ – and How to Counter Them
CIPHER BRIEF REPORTING – On Friday, as Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomed more than a dozen world leaders, including China’s Xi Jinping, for a Victory […] More
Who’s Winning the Intelligence War in Ukraine?
CIPHER BRIEF REPORTING – It’s often lost in all the news from the battlefield in Ukraine, and the various negotiations underway in pursuit of a […] More
Top New York Cyber Official: U.S. ‘Falling Behind’ – and Adversaries Aren’t Waiting
Access all of The Cipher Brief’s national security-focused expert insight by becoming a Cipher Brief Subscriber+ Member. Sign Up Log In
Why Crimea Matters – for War and Peace in Ukraine
EXPERT INTERVIEWS – Mention “the war“ to Ukrainians and they will likely date the conflict not to Russia’s February 2022 invasion of their country, but […] More
How Far Might a U.S.-Taliban Engagement Go?
EXPERT INTERVIEWS — The Taliban government in Afghanistan enjoys no formal recognition from the rest of the world, thanks largely to a poor human rights record […] More
Cyber Experts Urge U.S. Officials to Speed Up Reorganization Efforts
BOTTOM LINE UP FRONT – As the U.S. faces unprecedented threats from cyberattacks, experts are warning about the impact of cuts to the nation’s cyber […] More
Waltz, Rubio and the National Security Shakeup
CIPHER BRIEF REPORTING – The announcement was made on the 101st day of the second Trump administration, and while some insiders said they saw it […] More
Can India and Pakistan be Brought Back from the Brink of War?
EXPERT INTERVIEW – One week after a deadly terror attack, India and Pakistan stand at the precipice of military conflict, and as one scholar and […] More
50 Years Later, Reflections on Vietnam – From Those Who Lived It
SPECIAL REPORT — Fifty years ago this week, the long U.S. war in Vietnam came to an end. U.S. combat troops had left the country two […] More
The U.S. Tries to Halt a Shipbuilding Crisis
EXPERT INTERVIEWS — There is at least one issue involving national security and U.S. manufacturing that enjoys bipartisan support – and at least one Trump administration […] More
Assessing the Dangers of a ‘New Nuclear Age’
EXPERT INTERVIEWS — The arsenals of nuclear powers are growing, the number of nations with nuclear weapons may soon rise as well, and Russia has used […] More
Space: A Final Frontier for National Security?
EXPERT INTERVIEWS — The domain of space has become essential to 21st-century life, given the extent to which communications and navigation are now reliant on space-based […] More
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