Turkey’s Drift from the EU and NATO Could Be Permanent
Relations between Turkey and the European Union – already fraught – have deteriorated swiftly over the last few months. In June, the refusal of […] More
Fritz Lodge
Japan and the EU Show That Free Trade Will Not Wait for Trump
In keeping with his America First agenda, President Donald Trump is pushing ahead with the promised new direction in U.S. trade and international economic policy. […] More
The Paris Agreement and American Leadership
President Donald Trump’s decision to unilaterally withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement this June was met with immediate outcry from both domestic opponents […] More
Do the Trump Team’s New Rules for Vetting Visitors Target Muslims?
The revised ban on travel and immigration from six Muslim-majority countries ordered by President Donald Trump on March 6 now sits before the Supreme Court, […] More
Japan’s Arms Merchants Are Off to a Rocky Start
When Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government redrew Japan’s self-imposed arms export restrictions in 2014, it hoped to spark a revolution in a domestic defense […] More
Is Space the Next Frontier of Missile Defense?
Relations between the United States and North Korea hit a new low following Pyongyang’s test of an ICBM July 4. With a range of up […] More
Best Of: Railguns: The Fast, the Furious—and the Future?
For this year’s Fourth of July feature, The Cipher Brief revisits its coverage examining the concept of an electromagnetic railgun. Capable of firing projectiles at […] More
As ISIS Falls, Border Battles Loom
The U.S.-led military campaign against ISIS in Iraq and Syria appears to be nearing its end. In Mosul, Iraqi military forces are now pushing into […] More
Close Calls or Worse Between U.S. and Russia in Syria
Last Sunday, a U.S. Navy F/A-18E fighter jet shot down a Syrian government SU-22 bomber in the U.S. military’s first air-to-air kill involving manned aircraft […] More
Does Brexit Still Mean Brexit?
British Prime Minister Theresa May had hoped to have an ironclad majority in parliament that would bolster her negotiating position in upcoming Brexit talks. That […] More
The Hardest Fight Comes After Mosul Falls
After eight months of grinding conflict, Iraqi commanders are now confident that the battle to retake Mosul from ISIS is in its final phase. Pushing […] More
The Call to Radicalism, Both at Home and Abroad
After violence broke out between white nationalist protestors and counter-protestors in Charlottesville, Virginia over the planned removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee, a […] More
How Can the U.S. Level the Digital Trade Playing Field?
Trade growth has been running flat against GDP growth since 2012. According to the World Trade Organization (WTO), global trade volumes grew just 1.3 percent in […] More
The “Renaissance” in Private Space Launch for Defense
SpaceX launched the classified National Reconnaissance Office NROL-76 satellite into orbit before successfully landing the first stage of its Falcon 9 rocket at NASA’s Kennedy […] More
U.S. Special Operations Forces’ Changing Mission in the Middle East
Despite former President Barack Obama’s efforts to cut U.S. military commitments in the Middle East, events quickly drew his Administration back into the region. Civil […] More
Rebranding Countering Violent Extremism Programs: A Sharper Focus or Missing the Point?
U.S. counterterrorism efforts have achieved their fair share of successes – killing terrorist leaders with drone strikes and commando raids, keeping terrorist cells on the […] More
Does Moderate Political Islam Exist?
The term “political Islam” has become commonplace after the Arab uprisings of 2011, during which Islamist groups rose to political prominence across the Middle East […] More
Turkey’s Referendum: The Dangerous Road to “Yes”
Turkey has a checkered history with democracy. Since adopting a multiparty parliamentary system, the country has suffered periodic military coups – including a failed putsch […] More