Use What’s Known to Get to the Unknowns
The U.S. intelligence community has long considered its mission as the gatherer of secrets. But sometimes insights are hiding in plain sight among tweets, blog […] More
Agenda Setter
We Should Be Nice with Nice Guys and Tough with Tough Guys
The United States is confronting a wide array of national security challenges ranging from North Korea’s nuclear ambitions and Russia’s subversive cyber activities, to the […] More
Intel Agency Teaches Machines to Read Maps of the Future
Geospatial intelligence, or the collection and analysis of the physical features of the Earth, has long been an integral aspect of both strategic national security […] More
An Open Letter to the Incoming DIA Director
Next month, Lieutenant General Robert Ashley will take over as the 21st director of the Defense Intelligence Agency. The career Army military intelligence officer currently […] More
U.S. Counterintelligence Director: Putin “Achieved His Mission”
Robert Hanssen. Aldrich Ames. Those are just two of the faces peering out from a mock-up “Wall of Shame” of double agents and leakers that […] More
Changing the “Gotcha” Approach to Insider Threats
With the help of big data analytics, the Department of Defense Insider Threat Management and Analysis Center — better known as the DITMAC — is […] More
To the Government and Silicon Valley: Grow Up and Get Along
My late mother served as a sergeant in the Women’s Army Corps during World War II. She was nearly killed in 1944 by a “buzz […] More
Next Steps for U.S. Cyber Command after Split with NSA
We all know it’s coming, and soon. There is significant momentum for elevating U.S. Cyber Command to a full combatant command. We should expect that […] More
How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love our Crowded Skies
You may not realize it, but every day you interact with geospatial intelligence (GEOINT). Whether it’s the think tank that’s monitoring the Syrian refugee migrations, […] More
Over and Under Estimating the North Korean Threat
In the span of one week we have seen North Korea test four missiles, evidence of U.S. attempts to sabotage North Korea’s missile program with […] More
A License to Receive Intelligence?
Should government officials be licensed or pass a test before they can receive intelligence? The debate about whether to believe intelligence reporting on Russian hacking […] More
Making the Unknowns Known in Space
NASA has never hesitated in the face of the unknown. The space agency landed men on the moon in less than a decade. It has […] More
An Understanding of the Mission: Former Military in Trump’s Cabinet
Compared to the rest of his proposed cabinet, President Donald Trump’s pick of retired Marine Corps General James Mattis for Secretary of Defense has been […] More
Questions Remain Until Trump Makes Russia Intentions Clear
President Donald Trump has never shown much interest in foreign policy issues. The few consistent themes he has supported are to defeat ISIS, restructure trade […] More
The Many Faces of Vladimir Putin: A Political Psychology Profile
In 2000, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, then a relative unknown outside of Russia, visited Japan. Part of his trip included a visit to the Kodokan, […] More
Putin’s Perfect Gift
Noon on January 20th provides an excellent opportunity for Russian President Vladimir Putin to give President-Elect Donald Trump the perfect inauguration gift – Edward Snowden. […] More
North Korea: A Vexing Problem for the New U.S. President
Kim Jong-un’s New Year’s speech has triggered fevered speculation about the possibility of an impending North Korean intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) test, even provoking President-elect […] More
Cybersecurity Lessons Learned for 2017
Pundits will pick over the lessons of 2016 for a long time, and as they do, cyber experts are looking at the past year and […] More