After Syria’s Revolution, Turkey Holds Keys to What Comes Next
EXPERT INTERVIEWS — The stunning uprising in Syria will have ripple effects that reach far from Damascus and the other cities that the rebels captured […] More
Middle East
Post-Assad Syria: ‘Now Comes the Hard Part’
EXPERT INTERVIEW — The headlines would have seemed fanciful two weeks ago: “Rebel Army Ousts Assad” – “The Fall of Assad” – “Assad Flees to Russia” […] More
Syria’s Political Earthquake – and What Comes Next
DEEP DIVE – The Assad family – Hafez al-Assad and then his son Bashar – ruled Syria for 53 years. Their regimes were known for […] More
In Syria Rebellion, Questions for Assad, the US and the Middle East
DEEP DIVE — Even by the standards of the Middle East, it’s been a volatile and violent year – from Gaza to Lebanon to the […] More
The Latest
The Consequences of the Syrian Rebellion
EXPERT INTERVIEW — An already volatile Middle East has a new frontline: Syria. Actually, it’s an old frontline that’s returned to the fore, as Syrian rebels […] More
Memo to the 47th President: A Roadmap for the US and the Middle East
MEMO TO THE PRESIDENT — After Donald Trump’s victory in the November 5 election, The Cipher Brief invited experts from our network to offer advice for […] More
The ‘New Middle East’ That Awaits Donald Trump
EXPERT INTERVIEW — Less than two months before the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 47th U.S. president, the headlines from the Middle East are […] More
Inside Iran’s Alleged Plots to Kill Donald Trump
DEEP DIVE — For years, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has tried and failed at all sorts of half-baked schemes to eliminate enemies living in […] More
Iran’s ‘Ring of Fire’ Is In Trouble. What Comes Next?
DEEP DIVE — It may be the most consequential change to the Middle East since the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks against Israel, and the wars […] More
How Trump’s Win Alters the Landscape in the Middle East
DEEP DIVE — The Middle East has changed dramatically since President Donald Trump left office in 2021. An always-tense part of the world has seen an […] More
Militant Islam is Under Attack – But Its Root Causes Endure
OPINION — As the Israeli assault on Gaza passes the 13-month mark, and as Hezbollah reels under the massive Israeli bombing campaign on its leaders […] More
The World Trump Will Face: No Stability Here
OPINION — The so-called “Axis of Authoritarian” states – Russia, China, Iran and North Korea – pose an immediate threat to the international world order. […] More
Advice for Trump 2.0: Cipher Brief Experts Weigh In
EXPERT PERSPECTIVES — In the hours after Donald Trump was declared the winner of the 2024 presidential election, we turned to our network of experts for […] More
Decoding Global Reactions to Trump’s Victory
DEEP DIVE — It was, as Axios reporter Zachary Basu put it, “the most astonishing, gravity-defying comeback in the history of American politics.” But Donald Trump’s […] More
In Next President’s Inbox: 10 Global Nightmares
SPECIAL REPORT – As a divided nation hurtles towards the election, and officials worry about politically-driven violence, potential nightmares abound for the next commander-in-chief. Put […] More
The Houthis are Deeply Unpopular in Yemen – and That’s An Opportunity
OPINION — It has been widely acknowledged that the Houthi attacks against Israel and international shipping that followed Hamas’s deadly October 7th attacks last year, were used to defuse […] More
Israel’s New Military and Security Strategy: Could it Work?
EXPERT INTERVIEW — The Israel-Iran conflict has intensified in unprecedented ways over the past year, since Hamas — one of Iran’s anti-Israel proxy militias — breached […] More
The Houthis are winning with Iran’s help. Here’s what we should do.
This piece by Cipher Brief Expert VADM Kevin ‘Kid’ Donegan (Ret.) was first published by our friends at The Middle East Institute. OPINION — Despite being battered, […] More
After Sinwar: Questions for Israel, Iran and the Mideast Wars
BOTTOM LINE UP FRONT — Israel announced Thursday that it had killed its most wanted man, the Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, an act that several Cipher […] More