The 2011 U.S. Withdrawal from Iraq: Relevance for Syria Today

by Ambassador James F. Jeffrey

Following the near destruction of ISIS in Iraq and in the U.S. “zone” in northeastern Syria, and then a call recently by President Donald Trump to pull out of Syria, administration officials,...

North Korea: From Wishful Thinking to ‘Possible’

by Joseph DeTrani

The Panmunjom Declaration gives us hope that denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula is possible.  The Summit of South Korean President Moon Jae-in with North Korea’s Kim Jung-un was heavy on...

Iran’s “Admit Nothing, Deny Everything, Make Counter-Accusations” Tour

by Norman Roule

At the time of this writing, Iran’s avuncular Foreign Minister Javad Zarif is about to conclude a six-day visit to New York during which he has conducted a furious outreach to every conceivable...

Standing Firm on Denuclearization with Kim Jong Un

by Joseph DeTrani

Getting North Korea to agree to the complete, verifiable and irreversible dismantlement of its nuclear weapons and nuclear weapons facilities will be a difficult task for President Donald Trump....

Beating Moscow at its Main Game: Espionage

by Ambassador Richard Boucher

We talk a lot these days about smart power and hard power and soft power even the sharp power of manipulating information. In the end, power and influence have always been exercised in multiple...

The OSS, 9/11 & Gina Haspel: Intelligence Under Fire

by Alex Bolling

Just weeks after the attacks of 9/11, a flatbed truck was parked unceremoniously in the tree-lined fire lane next to the CIA’s New Headquarters Building, surrounded by furious activity. The team...

Don’t Expect Change from Cuba’s New President

by Kevin Hulbert

It’s very interesting that today will be the first time in almost 60 years that one of the Castro brothers has not been president of Cuba. But while it’s an interesting factoid, the fact that...

How Moscow May Have Influenced Our Elections – And Is Poised to Do It Again

by Steven Hall and Jim Crounse

During the leadup to the 2016 presidential elections, Russia bots, trolls and media outlets such as RT and Sputnik were actively messaging about the political contest that eventually resulted in the...

Pull Troops Out of Syria? Trump Has a Point

by Ambassador James Jeffrey

President Donald Trump is considering launching air strikes on Syria, if his own tweets are to be believed – an action that could show the value of switching from U.S. ground troops to a mostly...

CIA Nominee Haspel’s History of “Taking the Tough Jobs”

by Doug Wise

To the distinguished ladies and gentlemen on Capitol Hill: You are poised to make one of the most critical decisions this term by voting on the president’s nominee to become the director of the...