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As Negotiations Over Ukraine Drag On, What Can Putin Stand to Lose?

EXPERT PERSPECTIVE - “How Many Divisions has the Pope Got?” Josef Stalin’s sarcastic, contemptuous dismissal of an appeal by Pope Pius XI to a higher moral imperative in favor of the exercise of raw [...] More

How U.S. Adversaries are Eyeing Our Presidential Election

OPINION — Describing the conditions that set the stage for history’s largest, most costly war, Winston Churchill wrote in The Gathering Storm, “The malice of the wicked was reinforced by the weakness [...] More

More from Mark Kelton

Honoring the Oath Taken by Intelligence Officers Means More than Politics

OPINION — A poster I recently saw at CIA Headquarters reminded me of a project on which my late colleague and friend, Patty Brandmaier, and I worked [...] More
The Return of 'Iron Felix' and the Future of Russia's Leadership

The Return of 'Iron Felix' and the Future of Russia's Leadership

After originally being removed in 1997, a replica statue of "Iron Felix" Dzerzhinsky, has now been placed outside the headquarters of Russia's [...] More

The Enduring Consequences of Intelligence Leaks

OPINION — Having dealt with the investigation of, and fall-out from, Edward Snowden’s treachery while I served as CIA’s Chief of Counterintelligence [...] More
The Underlying Message from Putin and Xi: War is Coming

The Underlying Message from Putin and Xi: War is Coming

EXPERT PERSPECTIVE — Some thirty years ago, when I was a CIA Chief of Station in the war-torn Balkans, a US Special Operations soldier with whom I [...] More
China's Post-Ukraine Playbook

China's Post-Ukraine Playbook

Cipher Brief Expert and retired CIA Senior Executive Mark Kelton took part in a Russia panel during the recent Cipher Brief Threat Conference, along [...] More
The Biggest Winner in Ukraine is Beijing

The Biggest Winner in Ukraine is Beijing

Toby Esterhase: “You’re an old spy in a hurry, George. You used to say theywere the worst.” George Smiley: “Oh they are, Toby, they are.”EXPERT [...] More

Call out Chinese Spying for the Threat it Is

OPINION — “The beginning of wisdom”, according to a quote ascribed to Confucius, “is to call things by their proper name.” That saying came to mind [...] More
How Russians Can Bring an End to Putin's Chekist State

How Russians Can Bring an End to Putin's Chekist State

EXPERT PERSPECTIVE — “Nothing”, Fyodor Dostoevsky observed in Crime and Punishment, “is easier than to denounce the evildoer; nothing is more [...] More
The Value of a Well-Placed Spy in Moscow

The Value of a Well-Placed Spy in Moscow

EXPERT PERSPECTIVE — I hope CIA has an agent like Dmitry Polyakov operating in Moscow right now. A Major General in Soviet Military Intelligence (the [...] More