Latest Columns

OPINION — “Today I want to talk about Iran-U.S. mutual threat perceptions and deterrence policies, its historical perspective, but more from an Iranian perspective. I’m [...] More

OPINION — Last month, the U.S. Central Command said it conducted 20 joint operations in Iraq and 11 in Syria, killing five Islamic State operatives and capturing [...] More

SPONSORED COLUMN — Today’s information environment poses great challenges to our nation’s unity and security. Advances in wireless communication, content monetization, and artificial intelligence have [...] More

OPINION – The scale of both public and private sector interest towards Ukraine’s economy has been unprecedented in the aftermath of the colossal havoc caused [...] More

OPINION — Evolving technology, shifting organizational behaviors, and information overload increasingly tested my decades-old operational instincts and as I looked at retirement options, the progress [...] More

OPINION — “Operation and maintenance and military personnel funding [in the Defense Department] typically must be obligated in the year for which they are appropriated. [...] More

OPINION — No one should lament the passing of Yevgeny Viktorovich Prigozhin. According to Russian officials, Prigozhin was a passenger on an Embraer Legacy 600 aircraft [...] More

OPINION — Who can be surprised that Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin met his timely end? Many have cited variations of the quote attributed to Ralph Waldo [...] More

In light of the reported death of Wagner Group Chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, The Cipher Brief tapped a number of experts for their thoughts on what [...] More

OPINION – Wagner Group Leader Yevgeny Prigozhin was a violent man who lived life on a knife’s edge; that he reportedly met a violent end [...] More

OPINION — In late July 2023, the democratically elected President of the West African nation of Niger, Mohamed Bazoum, was overthrown by members of the [...] More

OPINION — “It is no exaggeration to state that signals intelligence, made possible by Section 702 information, is likely to inform every substantial national security [...] More

EXPERT PERSPECTIVE — In numerous Track 2 discussions between former U.S. government officials, academics and their Chinese counterparts, the 2003-2009 Six-Party Talks process is cited [...] More

ACADEMIA — The ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia has left Kyiv at a crossroads with a range of questions to consider for the future. [...] More

OPINION — In 1992, Congress passed legislation in the fiscal 1993 Defense Authorization Bill that required the establishment of a five-year program “to assist eligible [...] More

OPINION — One of the best things about being a retired CIA ops officer is now that people know I was a “spy,” I am [...] More

OPINION — Nagasaki, Japan, was not supposed to be the target for America’s second atomic bomb that was dropped 78 years ago, this week. And [...] More

OPINION — “The DoD [Department of Defense] seeks to accelerate space-relevant technology development across the commercial space enterprise through numerous innovative programs, to include AFWERX/SpaceWERX.” [...] More

EXPERT PERSPECTIVE — After months of increasingly grim reports of gang violence and recently, images of fearful Haitians seeking safety by camping in the open [...] More

EXPERT PERSPECTIVE — Russian President Vladimir Putin told a group of reporters recently that while Russia “is ready for any scenario”, the country does not [...] More

OPINION — According to a White House statement last March, “President Biden has called the struggle to bolster democratic governance at home and abroad the [...] More

OPINION — The consensus among geopolitical pundits seems to be that the Ukrainian counteroffensive has turned into a slog and that US and NATO policy [...] More

OPINION — CIA Director William Burns’ recent remarks to the Ditchley Foundation highlighted three key challenges to American security; (1) strategic geopolitical competition; (2) transnational [...] More

EXPERT PERSPECTIVE — The United States believes it has secured India as a strategic ally in the Indo-Pacific region. There will certainly be mutual benefits [...] More