Two Years Likely Too Fast to “Win” in Afghanistan
America’s plan of attack in Afghanistan has evolved significantly, since President Donald Trump announced his new strategy for confronting the Taliban-led insurgency and the Islamic […] More
Another Deadly Scourge to Fear: Opioids as Weapons of War
As the U.S. public-health system struggles to alleviate the scourge of opioid addiction that killed more than 50,000 Americans in 2016, a variation on the […] More
Fixing the Foreign Agents Registration Act
The blowback over forcing Russian news outlets “Russia Today” (RT) and “Sputnik” to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) has raised questions about […] More
What’s Next for the Palestinians?
President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel has left Palestinian leaders questioning the United States’ ability to effectively spearhead any […] More
Making a Killing: The Nexus of Terrorism and Wildlife Trafficking
The role of wildlife trafficking in funding militancy and terrorism has received intense attention from conservationists globally as well as from members of the U.S. […] More
How Recognizing Jerusalem Could Jettison – or Jumpstart – Peace Talks
The decision by President Donald Trump to officially recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital could give the U.S. added leverage to demand difficult concessions from the […] More
Pandith: Trump’s Move a Gift to Extremists
President Donald Trump officially recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel Wednesday, prompting approval from Israel, and a building rumble of protest across the Arab […] More
Outing Spooks: “Doxing” in the Cyber-Hack Era
Revealing the identities of intelligence officials – a practice known as doxing – could become more common among nation-states, directed in particular at the clandestine […] More
Network Take: Trump to Recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s Capital
The Cipher Brief reached out to network experts retired Amb. James Jeffrey and CIA veterans John Bennett and Emile Nakhleh for their thoughts on the […] More
Trump Administration to Assad & Moscow: You’re Not Winning
The Trump administration wants you to know that Syrian strongman Bashar Assad isn’t doing as well as he, or his Russian and Iranian allies want […] More
FISA Can Be Fixed Without Risking American Lives
Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance act is set to expire in five weeks, and to hear current and former intelligence officials tell it, […] More
Network Take: Death of a Gulf Strongman
Cipher Brief experts and CIA veterans Norman Roule, Emile Nakhleh and Rob Richer, together with former U.S. Amb. to Yemen Steven Seche, weighed in Monday […] More
When Terrorists Learn How to Hack
Terrorist groups are expanding their use of the internet beyond mere messaging and disseminating operational know-how, slowly adding a cyber-hacking toolset that could one day […] More
View: Washington Is Outsourcing the Qatar Crisis
The Trump administration is outsourcing the Qatar crisis to Kuwait, banking on the Kuwaiti monarch to bring the months-long crisis to a close. But ahead […] More
Why are Iran’s Hardliners Threatening Europe?
Europe has been on the forefront of defending the Iran Deal, better known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), from unraveling under the […] More
UAE’s Share of the Task Fighting al Qaeda in Yemen
The U.S. and its Gulf allies have clawed back Yemeni territory from al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), which has exploited the Yemeni conflict […] More
Network Take: The UK Meltdown over Trump Tweets
The fallout continued Thursday over President Donald Trump’s retweeting of anti-Islam videos originally posted by a British far-right fringe group. British Prime Minister Theresa May, […] More
How Egypt’s Policies Are Driving Support for ISIS in the Sinai
The Friday prayer massacre of more than 300 worshipers at a Sinai was a departure for the local Islamic State affiliate in scale, but not […] More