Taking a Lesson from Churchill for Today
The Cipher Brief’s State of Play series encompasses reviews of the books, movies and TV shows that help shape our understanding of the national security […] More
Entertainment
Daniel Silva’s House of Spies: Old Spies Don’t Die or Fade Away
As General Douglas MacArthur famously said, “Old soldiers don’t die, they just fade away.” In the world of fiction, old spies don’t die or fade […] More
The Lessons of Five Decades of Foreign Service
U.S. ambassador to the European Union, Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, envoy to Kosovo, Bosnia, Haiti, and Somalia: James Dobbins has had years of […] More
Dunkirk: The Larger-than-Life Story on a Larger-than-Life Screen
If you don’t know what a Stukka Dive Bomber sounds like, you will never forget its eerie, piercing wail after watching Dunkirk. It is sound, […] More
Is the U.S. Getting Outmaneuvered at Sea?
Retired Admiral James Stavridis believes the Trump Administration fails to recognize the importance of our oceans. In his new book Sea Power: The History and […] More
China: The Greatest Disruptive Force Today
Graham Allison’s ominously titled Destined for War fulfills an implied promise made by his seminal Atlantic magazine article 18 months ago. That article was labeled […] More
State of Play Review: Alex Berenson’s The Prisoner
In Alex Berenson’s new thriller, The Prisoner, his hero John Wells goes undercover in a European prison to smoke out a CIA mole who is […] More
Book Review: "Enhanced Interrogation"
Enhanced Interrogation: Inside the Minds and Motives of the Islamic Terrorists Trying to Destroy America is a firsthand account of the CIA’s controversial interrogation program […] More
The Man Behind "Rise of the Machines"
“Rise of the Machines: A Cybernetic History” (2016) tells the story of cybernetics, a control theory of man and machine devised by mathematician Norbert Wiener […] More
"The End of the Asian Century": Exploring Asia’s Future
Conventional wisdom suggests Asia’s increasing wealthy and educated population will make it the most dynamic region of the world and that it will drive the […] More
Fix What is Broken: Bringing Technocracy to America
On November 8 last year, Donald Trump upended the American political system with his surprising electoral victory over Hillary Clinton. That result has raised many […] More
The World We’ve Created: A Review of "True Faith and Allegiance"
When the Cipher Brief folks asked me to review the latest “Tom Clancy” novel, I was hesitant. I already have a pile of books that […] More
Pushing Back on Snowden: A Review of "How America Lost Its Secrets"
Edward Epstein began his career as an investigative journalist while he was still a graduate student at Cornell more than a half century ago, taking […] More
"Patriots Day," a Patriotic Film and Stark Reminder: A Review
Let me start this with a confession: this is my first movie review. It’s not something I thought I would ever do, but I was […] More
Discussing "The Big Stick: The Limits of Soft Power and the Necessity of Military Force"
As January 20th approaches, America prepares for a new Commander-in-Chief, who will face one of the most difficult foreign policy landscapes since the end of […] More
Tracking Down Escobar: The Real Story
“Narcos” is the Netflix fictionalized series that traces the rise and fall of one of the world’s most notorious narcotic traffickers, Colombian drug lord Pablo […] More
The Real Story Behind the King of Cocaine
“Narcos” is the Netflix fictionalized series that traces the rise and fall of one of the world’s most notorious narcotic traffickers, Colombian drug lord Pablo […] More
Security Dynamics Amidst Africa's Armed Conflicts
There has been a downward trend in large-scale warfare on the African continent since the number of wars peaked in the mid 1990s. However, new […] More