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Imagining a CIA Operation in Damascus

BOOK REVIEW: Damascus Station: A Novel By David McCloskey / W.W. Norton & Company Reviewed by Robert Richer The Reviewer — Robert Richer served as a former Associate Deputy Director for Operations at [...] More

A Candid Take on the Middle East Peace Plan

<p>Jerusalem Sunset Al Aqsa Mosque Israel</p>
Last week, The White House announced President Donald Trump’s vision for a ‘comprehensive peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.’ The White House refers to it as a peace to prosperity [...] More

More from Robert Richer

<p>Smoke rises in Raqqa, Syria.</p>

Syria’s Reality: A View from Amman

With increasingly confusing statements and actions from the White House and the Pentagon on U.S. policy toward Syria, The Cipher Brief presented a [...] More

The Jerusalem Pronouncement – Fueling the Cycle of Violence

From the Arab perspective—and my own—the timing of President Donald Trump’s announcement recognizing Jerusalem makes little sense. The peace process [...] More

Palestinian Unity Efforts 'One Incident from Falling Apart'

Despite the recent agreement reached on October 12 between the two rival Palestinian governments, the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Hamas, much work [...] More

Peace Remains Distant Prospect as Civilians Suffer

Civil war in Yemen has dragged on for approximately three years with no end in sight. Forces loyal to Yemeni president Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi and [...] More

‘We Might Succeed at Regime Change, but We Almost Always Fail after the Fact’

The United States has long sought to export its system of liberal democracy abroad. In places where military juntas and dictators have risen – and [...] More

Opportunity for ISIS as Sinai Civilians Sour on Cairo

Despite its role as a critical partner for the U.S. in the global fight against terror, Egypt has struggled to quash an extremist insurgency in the [...] More
Cipher Brief Expert View: Travel Ban Undermines U.S. Credibility

Cipher Brief Expert View: Travel Ban Undermines U.S. Credibility

Earlier this month, the U.S. State Department issued a memorandum stating that foreign countries are required to provide increased information and [...] More

Russia Wins When U.S. Stops Arming Anti-Assad Rebels

President Trump has decided to end the CIA-sponsored program to arm Syrian anti-Assad rebels, according to a Washington Post report on Wednesday. The [...] More

Cipher Brief Expert: Russia Wins When U.S. Stops Arming Anti-Assad Rebels

President Trump has decided to end the CIA-sponsored program to arm Syrian anti-Assad rebels, according to a Washington Post report on Wednesday. The [...] More