U.S. Policy to Counter Violent Extremism is Incoherent
The Cipher Brief’s Bennett Seftel spoke with Michael Leiter, former Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, about U.S. government efforts to counter violent extremism. Leiter […] More
Terrorism
Rebranding Countering Violent Extremism Programs: A Sharper Focus or Missing the Point?
U.S. counterterrorism efforts have achieved their fair share of successes – killing terrorist leaders with drone strikes and commando raids, keeping terrorist cells on the […] More
How European Intel Services Connect the Dots
Intelligence cooperation within Europe can get messy. There are national intelligence units, European Union (EU) intel structures, and ones within NATO. How all of these […] More
No Spy Superstructure in Europe
There has been talk for decades of creating an overarching intelligence structure that works to keep the continent secure, but it has taken on new […] More
Europe Intel Sharing Will Take Trust
A spike in terrorist attacks in Europe over the past couple of years has reignited the debate over how to improve European intelligence collection and […] More
Attack “of a Terrorist Nature” Rattles Paris Amid Election Fervor
Thursday’s deadly attack on Paris police jolted the first round of France’s upcoming Presidential election, with several of the leading candidates canceling campaign events and […] More
The Link Between White Supremacists and Islamic Terrorism
The process of radicalization, by which disaffected members of society are convinced to embrace violent means to pursue the goals of a terrorist ideology, has […] More
No Single Path Towards Radicalization
The Cipher Brief’s Bennett Seftel sat down with Charlie Allen, former Under Secretary for Security and Analysis at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, to […] More
AQIS Fits Into al Qaeda’s Global Strategy
While al Qaeda’s affiliate in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) may be regionally focused, Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, says […] More
Al Qaeda Quietly Expands in South Asia
While al Qaeda’s affiliates in North Africa, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen continue to grab headlines, the terrorist network has surreptitiously expanded eastward, entrenching itself throughout […] More
Stop the "al Qaeda-is-Degraded" Rhetoric
The Cipher Brief sat down with Michael Kugelman, Deputy Director and Senior Associate for South Asia at the Woodrow Wilson Center, to discuss the threat […] More
Despite Attacks Egypt Maintains Conventional Military Strategy
Sunday’s horrific terrorist attacks on Coptic churches in Tanta and Alexandria during Palm Sunday services, in which dozens have been killed and many more injured, should convince […] More
The Long-Goodbye to Afghanistan – Should It Get Longer?
Earlier this week, the Pentagon announced that ISIS’ leader in Afghanistan, Sheikh Abdul Hasib, was killed in an April 27 joint-operation carried out by Afghan […] More
“We Must Win in Afghanistan:” Terror Groups Exploiting Stalemate
In an exclusive interview with The Cipher Brief, Hamdullah Mohib, the Afghan Ambassador to the U.S., emphasized the progress that the Afghan government, led by […] More
Committed to the Afghan Mission
The Cipher Brief spoke with Representative Will Hurd, R-Tex., about what more the U.S. can do to improve security and the economy in Afghanistan. Hurd […] More
U.S., Russia Must Increase Counterterrorism Cooperation
The metro bombing in St. Petersburg Monday and White House comments that the U.S. will do what it can to help Russia get to the […] More
Trump Treasury Counterterrorism Nominee Wins Wide Praise
Sigal P. Mandelker, President Donald J. Trump’s pick to be Treasury Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence (TFI), is being lauded by former officials contacted […] More
Investigating Russia Bombing Links: U.S. May Cooperate
The Kyrgyz state security service identified Akbarzhon Dzhalilov, a 22-year-old Russian citizen born in Kyrgyzstan, as the assailant behind Monday’s explosion in the St. Petersburg […] More