A Tradition of Serving with Honor
Admiral James ‘Sandy’ Winnefeld served for 37 years in the United States Navy. He retired in 2015 after serving four years as the ninth Vice […] More
Admiral Sandy Winnefeld
The High Cost of President Trump’s Decision-Making Style
The Administration will start the new year with a new acting Secretary of Defense after President Donald Trump accepted James Mattis’s resignation letter and moved […] More
Al Qaeda’s Achilles Heel: Leadership
Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahiri recently released a video calling on Muslims to unite against what he calls an “international infidel alliance”. The video was released […] More
N. Korea, the U.S. and the Strange Path to Singapore
One wonders what the alien creature Griffin, portrayed by Michael Stuhlbarg in Men in Black III, and capable of seeing all possible futures, would […] More
The Latest
Wield Creativity as a Weapon against China, Russia & Complacency
The U.S. Navy is facing tough challenges on an anemic budget: China and Russia’s growing Naval prowess; threats proliferating from increasingly advanced weapons systems; a […] More
Paradise Intercepted: Defending Hawaii from North Korea
“Ballistic missile threat inbound to Hawaii . . . this is not a drill.” Now that we know what it feels like for Hawaii to […] More
Seoul Searches for Options as North Korean Missiles Fly
On October 10, as North Korea celebrates the creation of the ruling Worker’s Party, the United States and regional allies will brace themselves for the […] More
Harvey Tests Post-Katrina Military Response Reforms
Not since Katrina has the United States been struck by a hurricane as devastating as Harvey. Both inflicted unprecedented damage from floods and wind. Harvey […] More
Realism and North Korea
Every recent U.S. administration (Clinton, Bush, and Obama) has confronted the problem of North Korea’s (DPRK) nuclear weapons program. While claiming their predecessors failed, successive […] More
U.S. Downing of Syrian Warplane: A “Canary in the Coal Mine”
After a U.S. Navy F/A-18E shot down a Syrian SU-22 bomber on Sunday, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs quickly condemned the action, announced that […] More
Best Of: Aircraft Carriers: Bigger is Better
Editor’s Note: For this year’s Memorial Day feature, The Cipher Brief revisits its coverage examining the future of U.S. aircraft carriers. As I write, the […] More