A Strategy to Constrain Iran
In the midst of recent escalatory statements and actions between the U.S. and Iran, a spokesman for the Iranian atomic agency said Monday that within […] More
Cipher Brief Expert View
The Prisoners Dilemma: ISIS After Bagouz
On 23 May, John Walker Lindh was released after spending 17 years in a U.S. prison. The notorious “American Taliban”, convicted of providing support to […] More
In Story of Jihadi John, Don’t Trust the Headlines
Almost a year ago, I was approached by an award-winning documentary director and lauded journalist, Richard Kerbaj. He was seeking insight and background on Al […] More
How the U.S. Army Looks at Land Power in the Pacific
The Association of the United States Army (AUSA) held a symposium in Hawaii last week to talk about Land Power in the Pacific (LANPAC). We […] More
Sailing True North: Ten Admirals and the Voyage of Character
Admiral James Stavridis (Ret.) was the 16th Supreme Allied Commander at NATO and is an Operating Executive at The Carlyle Group. His is the author […] More
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
Christian Pike’s Ultimate Sacrifice
Rick Ledgett served as the Deputy Director of the National Security Agency from January 2014 until his retirement in April 2017, culminating a nearly 40 […] More
Memorial Day: How it has Changed for All of Us
Rob Lively retired after 28 years of military service, as the Command Sergeant Major of a Special Missions Unit within The United States Army Special […] More
From Military to CIA, the Sacrifice is often the Same
John McLaughlin is a distinguished practitioner in residence at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. He served as the Deputy Director of the […] More
Why We Call it the Army Family
Lieutenant General Guy C. Swan III (Ret.) currently serves as an AUSA Vice President. During more than 35 years of active service he commanded at […] More
The Debt that We Owe to the Fallen
Jimmy Hatch served 25 years and 11 months in the US Navy. The majority of that time was as a part of Naval Special Warfare. […] More
The Stars on the Wall
Kevin Hulbert is a former senior intelligence officer in the CIA’s Directorate of Operations who retired in June 2014, having served multiple overseas tours as […] More
How an Escalation to War Could Happen with Iran
A series of events last week led to escalating tensions between the U.S. and Iran. While tensions had seemed to ease somewhat on Friday, President […] More
Six Degrees of Russia
Tuesday’s meeting between U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov covered a wide range of issues, including arms control, the […] More
The U.S.- Russian Venn Diagram
Tuesday’s meeting between U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Sochi, Russia, was the result of a recent phone […] More
Testing Trump’s Nuclear Fuse, North Korea Launches More Missile Tests
South Korea says that North Korea launched what appeared to be two short-range missiles on Thursday, which would constitute the second round of missile tests […] More
A Disastrous Plan for the Muslim Brotherhood
The Trump Administration is reportedly considering designating the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization after a recent White House visit between President Donald Trump and Egyptian […] More
What are the Russians Doing in Venezuela?
There are multiple international dynamics at play in Venezuela this week, particularly between the U.S., which is supporting the uprising of Venezuelan opposition leader Juan […] More