ISIS’ Shifting Focus
ISIS has claimed responsibility for a series of Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka that killed more than 300 people and injured 500 more. Sri […] More
Cipher Brief Expert View
It’s Been Over 300 Days Since a Pentagon Press Briefing
For about six months now, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders has used her briefing room so little that officials might as well turn it back into […] More
What to Make of North Korea’s Recent Weapons Test
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw the testing of as a new ‘tactical guided weapon’ on Wednesday in the country’s first weapons test since […] More
What a Designated Terrorist IRGC Could Mean for the U.S.
Iran’s Supreme National Security Council is taking retaliatory steps after President Donald Trump announced on Monday that the U.S. will designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard […] More
Closing the Gaps Before the Next War: The Army’s New Sense of Urgency
Close to six thousand people, including current military leaders and members of the defense industry, are gathered at AUSA’s 2019 Global Force Symposium in Huntsville, […] More
Syria, ISIS and the Long War
On 23 March, the Syrian Democratic Forces announced the capture of Baghouz, the last remaining ISIS stronghold in Syria. This may arguably mark the end […] More
Christchurch Attacks Could Impact Counterterrorism Strategy
At least 50 people were killed and another 50 wounded in Friday’s Christchurch attacks. New Zealand authorities worked through the weekend to identify the victims […] More
What’s Going on in Bahrain?
Cipher Brief Expert and former member of the CIA’s Senior Intelligence Service, Emile Nakhleh was recently interviewed by the Bahrain Mirror. The Cipher Brief is […] More
The Captains are Confused in Syria
The recent announcement of plans to keep 200 U.S. “peacekeepers” in Syria has been met with a mixture of relief and confusion. Relief, as the […] More
The Definition of Success in Hanoi
Expectations are high for the second summit of President Donald Trump and Chairman Kim Jung-Un. Most people assume that there wouldn’t be a second summit […] More
Setting U.S. Relations with Saudi Arabia on a Correction Course
There was never any question that America’s relationship with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia would become one of its most important in the region and […] More
Four Big Takeaways from the Munich Security Conference
The Cipher Brief asked expert and retired four-star General David Petraeus for his big takeaways after attending last weekend’s Munich Security Conference. First, the wedge between […] More
Project Raven Raises Big Concerns
It’s difficult to feel anything other than disappointment after reading Reuter’s investigation of activities by a U.S. contractor in the UAE. The allegations that former NSA […] More
4 Terrorism Questions for former NCTC Director Nicholas Rasmussen
This week’s release of the Intelligence Community’s unclassified Worldwide Threat Assessment made clear which groups the IC believes pose the greatest terrorist threats to the […] More
The Terrorist Threat to the U.S. Homeland
As part of the U.S. Intelligence Community’s Worldwide Threat Assessment this week, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats told the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence […] More
Terrorist Threats Not Always The Usual Suspects
New York State has convicted a white supremacist as a ‘terrorist’ for the first time in its history. James Harris Jackson was convicted for the […] More
The Taliban and the Trump Card
U.S. and Taliban officials have agreed to a framework for a possible deal that could see a Taliban guarantee that Afghanistan will not be used […] More
Smarter Border Security
The Government remains shut down after President Donald Trump offered a plan over the weekend to provide temporary protection to some groups of immigrants if […] More