Latest Columns

OPINION — The Biden 2022 Nuclear Posture Review (NPR), now in preparation, should focus on cutting un-needed nuclear weapons, and possibly reducing others. It should [...] More

So much has changed in the past two and a half decades on the rocky road toward democracy in the Arab world. And not for [...] More

OPINION — “The United States has actively pursued the development of hypersonic weapons—maneuvering weapons that fly at speeds of at least Mach 5—as a part [...] More

This piece from Cipher Brief Expert Ambassador Joe DeTrani was first published in The Washington Times OPINION — If corrective actions aren’t taken immediately, the [...] More

OPINION — Last week, aircraft and personnel from 14 NATO countries carried out the annual exercise, code-named Steadfast Noon, which involved practicing nuclear strike missions [...] More

PRIVATE SECTOR EXPERT VIEW — Over the last eight years, the volume of successful ransomware attacks has reached pandemic levels. The U.S. Cyber Executive Order [...] More

OPINION — If cyber threats had a most wanted list, ransomware would be well within the top five, and headlines from the past few years [...] More

EXPERT PERSPECTIVE – The on-going bloody terrorist violence against Shia mosques in Afghan cities like Kunduz, Kandahar, and elsewhere have highlighted the murky issue of [...] More

OPINION – Taiwan today, appears to be the newest test for a potential American military intervention. “The CCP’s [Chinese Communist Party] ultimate objective isn’t invasion, [...] More

OPINION — Wednesday’s trilateral meeting between U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his counterparts from Israel and the United Arab Emirates capped a series of events [...] More

Cipher Brief UnderCover senior editor, Bill Harlow talks with journalist and author Toby Harnden about his new book, First Casualty: The Untold Story of the [...] More

OPINION — If corruption arising from the use of U.S. funds by the Afghan government and security forces was one of the reasons for U.S. [...] More

Pulitzer Prize Winning Journalist Walter Pincus is a contributing senior national security columnist at The Cipher Brief.  Pincus spent forty years at The Washington Post, writing on [...] More

Cipher Brief Expert Dan Hoffman is a former senior CIA Officer, three-time station chief and former senior executive Clandestine Services officer.  He is currently a [...] More

Pulitzer Prize Winning Journalist Walter Pincus is a contributing senior national security columnist at The Cipher Brief.  Pincus spent forty years at The Washington Post, writing on [...] More

Cipher Brief Expert Ambassador Joseph DeTrani is former Special envoy for Six Party Talks with North Korea and is former CIA director of East Asia [...] More

Dr. Kenneth Dekleva served as a Regional Medical Officer/Psychiatrist with the U.S. Dept. of State and is currently Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Director, Psychiatry-Medicine [...] More

Patrick Duddy, a retired American diplomat, is the director of Duke University’s Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies.  From 2007 to 2010 he served [...] More

Pulitzer Prize Winning Journalist Walter Pincus is a contributing senior national security columnist at The Cipher Brief.  Pincus spent forty years at The Washington Post, writing on [...] More

Javed Ali is an associate professor of practice at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. Ali brings more than 20 years of professional [...] More

Cipher Brief Expert Robert J. Eatinger is former senior deputy general counsel at the CIA.  He has 35 years of experience practicing law in the [...] More

Pulitzer Prize Winning Journalist Walter Pincus is a contributing senior national security columnist at The Cipher Brief.  Pincus spent forty years at The Washington Post, writing on [...] More

Cipher Brief Expert Laura E. Thomas is a former CIA case officer and Chief of Base in Afghanistan, who led sensitive CIA programs at CIA [...] More

Cipher Brief Expert Daniel Hoffman is a former senior officer with the Central Intelligence Agency, where he served as a three-time station chief and a senior executive [...] More