Counterterrorism on The Cipher Brief's site

Assassination Attempt on Trump Could Fuel FBI's Biggest Fear: Terrorism

EXPERT Q&A – As the FBI investigates the reasons why 20-year-old suspect Thomas Matthew Crooks may have targeted former president Donald Trump at a [...] More

'Huge Risk' of Terrorism Returns to Western Europe

SUBSCRIBER+EXCLUSIVE REPORTING — While the West’s attention has moved away from the once cataclysmic threat of Islamic terrorism to focus on the [...] More

The U.S. has both a Duty to Warn and a Duty to Ask

OPINION / EXPERT PERSPECTIVE — In the aftermath of Hamas’ horrific October terrorist attacks on Israel, many in the media were quick to criticize the [...] More

Despite Some Flaws, the U.S. Needs Section 702

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

Morocco's Template for Dealing with Terrorism

OPINION — Africa has replaced the Middle East as the epicenter of global terrorist threats, according to a recent analysis by the United Nations [...] More

The Significance of al-Zawahiri's Death

OPINION — There are undoubtedly those who wonder why the President of the United States would bother to address the American public about the death [...] More

Justice by Hellfire: The Killing of Ayman al-Zawahiri

It’s possible that the terrorist leader, wanted for his role in plotting the 9/11 attacks and later becoming the head of al Qaeda after the killing [...] More

Today's Terrorist Threat

EXPERT PERSPECTIVE — MI5 Director General, Ken McCallum’s, joint address on 6th July with the FBI Chief saw a welcome rebalancing of the Security [...] More

The Problem with The Sahel

OPINION — With little public notice, the two-decades-long U.S. war on terrorism continues in the Sahel, the semi-arid region of western and [...] More

The Battle the FBI is Waging Every Day

OPINION — FBI Director Christopher Wray’s talk at the Reagan Library on January 31 was titled “Countering Threats Posed by the Chinese Government [...] More

Where is the US' Counterterrorism Doctrine Now?

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

How Can Blinken's Bold Plan for Afghanistan Succeed?

Tim Willasey-Wilsey, Cipher Brief Expert[rebelmouse-image 60322659 expand=1 dam=1 alt="Tim Willasey Wilsey" site_id=26883708 is_animated_gif="false" [...] More

Biden's National Security Test

Cipher Brief Expert John McLaughlin is former Acting Director of the CIA, former Deputy CIA Director and is the Distinguished Practitioner in [...] More

One Year after Killing of Baghdadi, What is the State of the Islamic State?

Bottom Line Up FrontOne year ago today, U.S. Special Operations Forces hunted down ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who died after detonating a [...] More

Trump's Pre-Election Search for a National Security Win

OPINION — President Trump and his team are trying to come up with at least one last minute foreign policy success before Election Day, just 21 days [...] More

The China Problem

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called out China’s claims in the South China Sea this week, saying they are “completely unlawful.” It was a [...] More

Counterterrorism