General Austin’s New Mission Begins
Walter Pincus is a contributing senior national security columnist for The Cipher Brief. He spent forty years at The Washington Post, writing on topics from […] More
Walter Pincus
We Need An Insurrection Investigation
Walter Pincus is a contributing senior national security columnist for The Cipher Brief. He spent forty years at The Washington Post, writing on topics from […] More
The Fallout from a Contentious Confirmation Battle
Walter Pincus is a contributing senior national security columnist for The Cipher Brief. He spent forty years at The Washington Post, writing on topics from […] More
Biden’s Nuclear Challenges
OPINION — President-elect Joe Biden’s campaign slogan, “Diplomacy is back,” will get an instant test after January 20, when his incoming team has just 16 […] More
A Bill, the President and China
Walter Pincus is a contributing senior national security columnist for The Cipher Brief. He spent forty years at The Washington Post, writing on topics from […] More
In a Future Military, You Must Spend to Deter
OPINION — President-elect Joe Biden and Defense Secretary-designee ret-Gen. Lloyd Austin will inherit a Defense Department already in transition, shifting to China as the future […] More
Biden’s Best JCPOA Bid
OPINION — Was the November 27, assassination of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh – Iran’s top nuclear scientist – the beginning or the end of attempts to sabotage […] More
A Border Wall Mess
OPINION — “There will not be another foot of [Trump’s border] wall constructed on my administration, No. 1,” President-elect Joe Biden pledged on August 4, […] More
The Challenging Vaccine Distribution Mission
OPINION — Last Wednesday, Dr. Anthony Fauci used the metaphor, “the cavalry is on the way,” referring to two COVID-19 vaccines that are expected to […] More
The Times that Try Men’s Souls
OPINION – The military has become the U.S. institution in which the public has the most confidence, as measured by the latest Gallup Poll, which […] More
The Case for a new START and Nuclear Posture Review
OPINION – President-elect Joe Biden’s national security transition team should be developing plans for extending the New START strategic nuclear arms treaty with Russia, but […] More
What COVID looks like below the surface of the election
OPINION — On August 6, 2020, an unusual, two-year, $870,000 contract for artificial intelligence (AI) in medicine imaging related to COVID-19 was awarded to Bunkerhill […] More
The New Battleground for the Arms Race
OPINION — Last Wednesday, speaking at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), STRATCOM Commander Admiral Charles A. Richard began with what he described as “a really […] More
Top issues for the next leader of the Free World
OPINION – The United Nations’ decade-long embargo on the sale of arms to Iran expired on Sunday based on a provision in the 2015 Joint […] More
Trump’s Pre-Election Search for a National Security Win
OPINION — President Trump and his team are trying to come up with at least one last minute foreign policy success before Election Day, just […] More
Declassification of Unverified Information becomes Election Talking Point
OPINION — Last Tuesday, Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe promised, or maybe threatened, “Additional declassification and public disclosure of related intelligence remains under consideration.” […] More
The Danger of Political Spin
OPINION — Last week, President Trump attempted to use the mistaken discarding of nine military ballots two weeks ago by a just-hired contractor at Pennsylvania’s […] More
How to Build a Next Generation US Nuclear Submarine
OPINION — The Navy is scheduled to begin construction next month on SSBN-826, to be named the USS Columbia, the first of 12 planned new, […] More