Asia

To ask about the state of democracy in Hong Kong is asking the wrong question. The irony is that Hong Kong residents arguably have more […] More

Fourteen years ago this week, the United States began “Operation Enduring Freedom” in Afghanistan, with the purpose of eliminating the threat of al-Qaeda and toppling […] More

Several years ago, relations between Pakistan and the United States hit a post-9/11 low. The 2011 discovery of Osama bin Laden’s compound not far from […] More

Several years ago, relations between Pakistan and the United States hit a post-9/11 low. The 2011 discovery of Osama bin Laden’s compound not far from […] More

As U.S. counterterrorism successes mount in eliminating terrorists in Pakistan, the al-Qaeda “glue” that holds the U.S.-Pakistan security relationship together has seemed to weaken.  What […] More

In an interview with The Cipher Brief, Andrew Small, an expert on Chinese policy in South Asia for The German Marshall Fund, discussed the evolving […] More

Professor Ming Sing of Hong Kong University of Science and Technology discussed with The Cipher Brief Hong Kong’s Umbrella Movement and its impact on the […] More

The democracy movement in Hong Kong is still alive, but the energy that brought almost one hundred thousand people to the streets last year has […] More

On September 28, protesters marked the anniversary of the start of last year’s Umbrella Revolution, in which 200,000 Hong Kongers took to the streets to […] More

Just one year ago, in the midst of the “Umbrella Protest Movement,” it seemed that Hong Kong’s position as the most business-friendly place in Asia […] More

China’s exploitation of national security concerns to shield its technology companies from foreign competition has shifted the global competitive landscape. American companies, hindered by China’s […] More

This weekend, Japan’s legislature passed a new National Security Law that allows the Japanese Self Defense Forces (SDF) to use military action in foreign conflicts […] More

After three decades of unprecedented economic growth, China must manage a volatile stock market, a slowing economy, and increasing criticism both at home and abroad […] More

Until recently, the widely accepted international narrative about China was that it was a country on a roll  – characterized by years of remarkable economic […] More

Going into the third year at the helm of the world’s second biggest economy, Chinese leader Xi Jinping faces perhaps the most daunting task of […] More

The rifts among Taliban factions had been growing for some time, bubbling up as the deception over their leader’s death continued. They boiled over last […] More

The Cipher Brief sat down with General Stanley McChrystal, the former commander of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), for a wide-ranging interview.  The general offered […] More

During the 11 months of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s presidency, and despite the combination of a rapid Western pullout and an expanding Taliban insurgency, there […] More