Where the US-ROK Summit May Lead
Cipher Brief Expert Joseph R. DeTrani served as the special envoy for negotiations with North Korea from 2003-2006 and is the former director of the […] More
Cipher Brief Expert View
Intelligence on Afghanistan: A Difficult but not Impossible Task
Lieutenant General Robert P. Ashley, Jr. is former Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, where we reported directly to the Under Secretary of Defense for […] More
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Reality of Afghanistan
Cipher Brief Expert John McLaughlin served as Acting CIA Director from July to September 2004 and as Deputy Director from October 2000 to July 2004. […] More
Bringing National Security into our Daily Dialogue
Cipher Brief Expert Ambassador Joseph DeTrani is former Special envoy for Six Party Talks with North Korea and former CIA director of East Asia Operations. […] More
A Worldwide Threats Hearing Guide from the Bleachers
As US Worldwide Threats hearings get underway in Washington after a two-year hiatus, experts will be watching to see how the Biden Administration’s new senior […] More
On Nuclear: Iran and North Korea are a Package Deal
Cipher Brief Expert John E. McLaughlin served as Acting Director of Central Intelligence from July to September 2004 and as Deputy Director of Central Intelligence […] More
On Cyber Disclosures, Take ‘Voluntary’ Out of the Equation
Rob Knake is a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and a non-resident fellow at Harvard’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. […] More
The Realities of Diversity in Spycraft
Sonya Seunghye Lim is a former Chief of Station with the Central Intelligence Agency. Before retiring from the CIA’s Senior Intelligence Service, she had a […] More
The Spyhunter’s Burden
OPINION — A recent email from the current Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Chief of Counterintelligence (C/CI), wherein Agency retirees were reminded of their life-long obligation […] More
The Future of Navalny’s Opposition Movement
John McLaughlin served as Acting Director of Central Intelligence and as Deputy Director of Central Intelligence. He is the Distinguished Practitioner in Residence at the […] More
What the Wirecard Scandal Tells us about Russian Intel Operations
Sonya Seunghye Lim is a former Chief of Station with the Central Intelligence Agency. Before retiring from the CIA’s Senior Intelligence Service, she had a […] More
A Path to Reset Iran Policy
Norman T. Roule served for 34-years in the Central Intelligence Agency, managing numerous programs relating to Iran and the Middle East. He served as the National […] More
North Korean Denuclearization is Possible
Cipher Brief Expert Ambassador Joseph DeTrani is former Special envoy for Six Party Talks with North Korea and the U.S. Representative to the Korea Energy […] More
Strategy as a Fundamental of National Security
Cipher Brief Expert Sean Corbett retired from the Royal Air Force in September 2018 after a 30-year career as a professional intelligence officer. His last […] More
The US’ Dangerous Dilemma in Afghanistan
Cipher Brief Expert Tim Willasey-Wilsey is a visiting Professor of War Studies at King’s College, London and a former senior British diplomat. The views expressed […] More
Biden’s Big Iran Challenge
Cipher Brief Expert John E. McLaughlin is the Distinguished Practitioner in Residence at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). He served as […] More
America’s Allies Shocked by Storming of the Capitol
The Cipher Brief asked our experts to weigh in on how they saw Wednesday’s storming of the U.S. Capitol by pro-Trump protesters and how allies […] More
Today’s World Through the Lens of 2020
Robert Cardillo served as the sixth Director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA). Prior to that assignment, Mr. Cardillo served as the first Deputy Director […] More