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Columns

Latest Fine Print Columns

Veteran national security reporter Walter Pincus brings his legendary Fine Print column to The Cipher Brief, delivering his take on defense and security every Tuesday. 

June 20, 2017
June 20, 2017

The Days of Nation-Building Are Not Over

by Walter Pincus

If you take Defense Secretary James Mattis at his word, the United States in coming years will be doing nation-building in Iraq and Afghanistan.
June 13, 2017
June 13, 2017

Qatar Controversy: U.S. Creates Vacuum with Mixed Messaging

by Walter Pincus

The Trump Administration’s inconsistency in addressing the Qatar-Saudi feud has left an opening for the likes of Russia or Turkey to step in.
June 6, 2017
June 6, 2017

U.S, North Korea Play Cat and Mouse Game Over Nukes

by Walter Pincus

Last Tuesday’s successful American missile defense test against an ICBM re-entry vehicle, launched toward the U.S. from a South Pacific atoll, has been described as showing protection from a possible...
May 30, 2017
May 30, 2017

Trump’s Saudi Trip: Less Than Meets the Eye?

by Walter Pincus

What’s the outcome of President Trump’s trip last week to the Middle East? I’ll focus mainly on what may be the after effects of the first days of his trip in Saudi Arabia, where he was treated...
May 23, 2017
May 23, 2017

America First Except When It Involves Russia

by Walter Pincus

When it comes to Russia, is President Trump following his own guideline, America First, and if not, why? The infamous May 10 Oval Office meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and...
May 16, 2017
May 16, 2017

Can Trump Stay on Script, Out of Trouble on His Overseas Trip?

by Walter Pincus

Can the President limit impulsive, off-hand, public remarks, and stop controversial tweeting?
May 9, 2017
May 9, 2017

Sabre Rattling in Korean Peninsula: No End in Sight

by Walter Pincus

Can there be serious negotiations so that diplomacy may end the growing threat of a military confrontation on the Korean Peninsula? Not yet, is my guess. Trump, since his April 6-7 meeting at...
May 2, 2017
May 2, 2017

Trump Just Can’t Say or Do Anything that Comes to His Mind

by Walter Pincus

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, at age 33, is continuing his father’s and grandfather’s pattern of wild threats and bluster to cloak development of nuclear warheads and missile delivery systems that...
April 25, 2017
April 25, 2017

Confusion + Confrontation = Trump Foreign Policy

by Walter Pincus

President Donald Trump may be the only world leader impressed with the impact of the recent United States use of Tomahawk missiles in Syria and later the giant, GBU-43/B MOAB bomb in Afghanistan....
April 18, 2017
April 18, 2017

Are Ivanka’s Personal Interests Influencing China Policy?

by Walter Pincus

On April 6 – the same day Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner dined with President Xi and his wife at Mar-a-Lago – the Chinese government provisionally approved three of the trademarks, according to the...

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