Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

cipherbrief

Welcome! Log in to stay connected and make the most of your experience.

Input clean

Europe

The Bells are Ringing Again, and This Time Sweden is Inside the Alliance

Joey Gagnard

The Bells are Ringing Again, and This Time Sweden is Inside the Alliance

On August 25, CIA Director John Ratcliffe landed in Moscow. He met Russian officials, warned them against attacking NATO, raised Moscow’s support for [...] More

Joey Gagnard Europe

The Latest

Alex Younger: An Unusually Likeable Human Being, And A Spy

Nick Fishwick

Alex Younger: An Unusually Likeable Human Being, And A Spy

Sir Alex Younger died earlier this week at the age of 62. He had been fighting cancer for some time. Alex was Chief of the Secret Intelligence [...] More

Europe Nick Fishwick

Remembering Alex Younger: The Intelligence Chief Who Shaped a Generation

Sir Richard Moore

Remembering Alex Younger: The Intelligence Chief Who Shaped a Generation

I don't want to write about Sir Alex Younger, my predecessor as Chief of SIS.I want to write about my friend.I had known about Alex's cancer from the [...] More

Europe
Remembering the Americans Who Made Ukraine’s War Their Own

Remembering the Americans Who Made Ukraine’s War Their Own

This Memorial Day, The Cipher Brief is remembering the Americans who answered the call after Russia launched its unprovoked, deadly invasion of [...] More

Ukraine International Europe

Russia’s Victory Day Parade Signals Anything But Victory

Rob Dannenberg

Russia’s Victory Day Parade Signals Anything But Victory

Снявший голову, по волосам не плачут(When your head is cut off, you don’t cry about your hair)- Old Russian ProverbOPINION – Russia is readying for [...] More

Russia Europe
Ukrainian drone operators in Zaporizhzhia direction

How Ukraine’s Drone Technology Is Reshaping Global Defense

As Iranian-designed Shahed drones struck critical infrastructure across the Persian Gulf in early March, military planners in Washington confronted [...] More

Europe Ukraine

Romania Pays the Cyber Price for Backing Ukraine. Where is the EU?

Antonia Pup

Romania Pays the Cyber Price for Backing Ukraine. Where is the EU?

When ransomware groups hit Romania’s national water agency, its largest coal-fired power producer and oil pipeline operator all in recent months, it [...] More

Alternative Perspectives Europe

While Washington Looks to Iran, Putin Gains Ground

Rob Dannenberg

While Washington Looks to Iran, Putin Gains Ground

OPINION - After the joint U.S. - Israeli strikes against Iran’s nuclear program last June and after the spectacular raid that resulted in the capture [...] More

Russia Europe Expert View
Zelensky Plays His Hand

Zelensky Plays His Hand

As Iran’s explosive-laden drones wreak havoc in the Persian Gulf and beyond, a wartime leader in another part of the world says he can help.“What is [...] More

Europe Ukraine
RUSSIA-UKRAINE-CONFLICT-POLITICS

After the War and After Putin: Three Potential Succession Scenarios for Russia’s Modern Tsar

THE KREMLIN FILES / COLUMN — Recent weeks have seen seismic shifts in the world’s authoritarian landscape: from the dramatic removal of Venezuela’s [...] More

Europe Russia
Tracing the Evolution of Russian Hybrid Warfare

Tracing the Evolution of Russian Hybrid Warfare

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 did not emerge from a strategic vacuum. It was the culmination of over a decade of [...] More

Europe Ukraine

Alliances, Ukraine, and China’s Growing Challenge

Evelyn Farkas

Alliances, Ukraine, and China’s Growing Challenge

EXPERT Q&A — Evelyn Farkas has spent decades working at the center of U.S. national security and transatlantic defense policy. A former Deputy [...] More

Ukraine Europe Expert View
Russia’s Promises of Security Lead to Ukraine's Frontlines

Russia’s Promises of Security Lead to Ukraine's Frontlines

DEEP DIVE — Moscow has spent nearly four years burning through human resources in Ukraine, and now they’ve found a new way to fill the gaps of loss: [...] More

Russia Europe