Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

cipherbrief

Welcome! Log in to stay connected and make the most of your experience.

Input clean

Columns

The $1.5 Trillion Defense Budget Without a Strategy

“This is not at all a strategy-driven [FY 2027 defense] budget. This is a budget-driven budget. If you look at the Truth Social posts by the [...] More

The Latest

A Master List of Espionage Targets, Suspected Spies, and Potential Recruits

It was with alarm that I read the recent New York Times article reporting the regurgitation of a truly terrible idea that, like a bad meal, continues [...] More

Afghanistan Lost the Cognitive War Before It Lost the State

The collapse of Afghanistan in August 2021 is still widely interpreted as a military or political failure. That interpretation is [...] More

Washington’s Spy Ring and Paine’s Democracy

Agent 711 was one of the most effective and least known spies in our nation's history. He used dead drops to communicate about enemy plans. He used [...] More

Inside the $87.6 Billion Iran War Supplemental

“In addition to supporting OEF (Operation Epic Fury, the Iran War) costs incurred by DOW (Department of War), the [$87.6 billion Fiscal Year FY 2026 [...] More

America’s Military Plans Depend on Infrastructure It Doesn’t Secure

Military power is meaningless if it cannot move.Every American war plan, from deterring aggression in Europe to prevailing in the Indo-Pacific, [...] More

The Front Line of the AI Race Runs Through Your Company's Chat Logs

Last week, a statement from former White House AI advisor David Sacks stopped Washington cold. "We now have a Chinese open-weight model that is as [...] More

An Outlook for What’s Next in Iran War

With tensions rising all week, the U.S. has launched a new round of strikes against Iranian military targets and maritime assets. The strikes follow [...] More

The Succession Question Haunting the Kremlin

The late-June 2026 death of Sergei B. Ivanov - the man once thought the most likely successor to Vladimir Putin - as well as the Russian President’s [...] More

Putin’s Running Out of Scare Tactics and Options

Russian President Vladimir Putin can no longer conceal the cost of his Ukraine war from the Russian public. There are fuel shortages throughout the [...] More

Cyber Fraud, Banks, and What America Can Do About It

Your phone buzzes with a text from your bank: “Did you authorize a $2,400 transfer? Reply NO to stop it.” You reply, and seconds later a calm “fraud [...] More

Gen. Dunford: Military Leaders Must Advise, Not Advocate

“We [the Joint Chiefs of Staff] often times in the national security decision-making process or White House meetings -- outside of the Pentagon [...] More

Colombia’s Election Exposes a Country Still Split

Colombia stands at a crossroads because of the narrow victory of right‑wing outsider Abelardo de la Espriella over leftist Senator Iván Cepeda. On [...] More