Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

cipherbrief

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

Input clean

North America

​Armed supporters of ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro stand guard

The Dangerous Trade of State Secrets

At just after 2 a.m. on January 3, explosions echoed across Caracas. Low-flying aircraft struck military installations. Venezuelan President Nicolás [...] More

United StatesAmericasNorth America

The Latest

Drones Are Changing Warfare And America Isn’t Ready

Steve Blank

Drones Are Changing Warfare And America Isn’t Ready

OPINION — Drones in Ukraine and in the War with Iran have made the surface of the earth a contested space. The U.S. has discovered that 1) air [...] More

AmericasNorth AmericaUnited States
Can the U.S. Win the Critical Minerals Competition?

Can the U.S. Win the Critical Minerals Competition?

What U.S. national security interest binds Greenland, Argentina, the Congo, and the Cook Islands? What was the impetus for the recent “strategic [...] More

United StatesAmericasNorth America

The Quiet Expansion of Trump’s War on Cartels

Walter Pincus

The Quiet Expansion of Trump’s War on Cartels

OPINION — “The [narco-trafficking] boat strikes [in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific] aren't the answer. What we're moving for right now might be an [...] More

AmericasNorth AmericaUnited StatesWalter PincusFine Print

America’s Drone Future

Ernestine Fu Mak

America’s Drone Future

OPINION — America is entering a future with millions of drones in our airspace. As the federal government works to determine how to manage what will [...] More

AmericasAlternative PerspectivesNorth AmericaUnited States

America Is Digitally Fragile — and Our Adversaries Know It

Lt. Gen. Charles L. Moore Jr. (Ret.)

America Is Digitally Fragile — and Our Adversaries Know It

OPINION — America has entered a moment in which it is fundamentally more vulnerable than at any point in modern history. For the first time, the [...] More

AmericasAlternative PerspectivesNorth AmericaUnited StatesLt. Gen. Charles L. Moore Jr. (Ret.)

America’s “Exquisite Class” Weapons Shortage

Walter Pincus

America’s “Exquisite Class” Weapons Shortage

OPINION — “We just concluded a very good meeting with the largest U.S. Defense Manufacturing Companies where we discussed Production and Production [...] More

AmericasNorth AmericaUnited StatesWalter PincusFine Print

The Transparency Challenge: Europe’s Defense Supply Chain Blind Spot—and Why the Pentagon Went to War Footing

Joey Gagnard

The Transparency Challenge: Europe’s Defense Supply Chain Blind Spot—and Why the Pentagon Went to War Footing

EXPERT PERSPECTIVE — In this issue we will discuss how the security of the defense industrial base (DIB) has moved from a logistics concern to a [...] More

AmericasJoey GagnardNorth AmericaUnited States
The National Guard In Mexico Conducts An Operation Following The Death Of Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, "El Mencho," Leader Of The Jalisco New Generation Cartel, At The Hands Of Federal Forces

Killing Mencho

Exactly who tracked El Mencho, the world’s most wanted and feared drug lord, to a heavily armed safe house in a remote Sierra Madre town is a secret, [...] More

AmericasNorth America
Washington’s Venezuelan Gamble: The Old Guard’s Continued Grip on Power

Washington’s Venezuelan Gamble: The Old Guard’s Continued Grip on Power

More than six weeks after United States special forces extracted Nicolás Maduro from Caracas, Venezuela remains under the control of the same [...] More

AmericasNorth America
How Cuba's Infrastructure Crisis Is Opening the Door to Foreign Intelligence Networks

How Cuba's Infrastructure Crisis Is Opening the Door to Foreign Intelligence Networks

DEEP DIVE — On February 13, nighttime light emissions across major Cuban cities had dropped as much as 50 percent compared to historical averages — [...] More

AmericasNorth America

From the Monroe Doctrine to Maduro: The Precedent Problem in U.S.

Rodney Faraon

From the Monroe Doctrine to Maduro: The Precedent Problem in U.S.

OPINION — In 1895, Secretary of State Richard Olney sent a diplomatic note to Britain that contained one of the most remarkable sentences in American [...] More

United StatesAmericasNorth America

Greenland’s Worth a Fight and Russia’s Trying to Start One

Emma Overell

Greenland’s Worth a Fight and Russia’s Trying to Start One

EXPERT PERSPECTIVE — The “quickest way for Russia to penetrate our naval defenses is steaming from the Arctic to the North Atlantic.” The [...] More

AmericasRear Adm. (Ret.) Mark MontgomeryNorth AmericaExpert View