What (or Who) is Driving the U.S. Border Crisis?
The number of monthly apprehensions based on illegal border crossings hovers north of 90,000 people. According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), more […] More
Policy
Taking Down Russian Trolls is My Kind of Cyber Attack
The debate on cyber conflict has gotten so locked into deterrence, escalation, coercion, and signaling we pundits often forget that conflict is sometimes straightforward and […] More
The Quickly Spreading Global Cyber Threat
Cyber has quickly become the global threat that knows no borders, nor does it distinguish between the public and private sectors. Executives from the world’s […] More
The Trust But Verify Strategy with North Korea
OPINION — The “tremendous progress” with North Korea that President Trump has repeatedly claimed does not approach the success that Kim Jong Un has achieved, […] More
The Growing Intelligence-Policy Divide
Bottom Line Up Front On January 30, President Trump sent out tweets that were construed by many as pointed criticism of the intelligence community […] More
Designate IRGC’s Quds Force as a Foreign Terrorist Organization
Last month, the U.S. Department of State marked the 35th anniversary of the U.S. designation of Iran as a state-sponsor of terrorism. Tehran is part of […] More
The Taliban and the Trump Card
U.S. and Taliban officials have agreed to a framework for a possible deal that could see a Taliban guarantee that Afghanistan will not be used […] More
If the U.S. Doesn’t Get China Right, Nothing Else Will Matter
General Michael Hayden, the co-host of The Cipher Brief’s Annual Threat Conference for the past two years, has famously said that the world has been […] More
What A Safe Zone in Syria Would Actually Look Like
A senior Kurdish official has dismissed the idea of creating a 20-mile wide safe zone in Syria presented by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, something […] More
A U.S. Terrorism Prevention Strategy
The Trump Administration is defunding the nation’s primary anti-domestic terror program at the Department of Homeland Security and DHS’ Office of Terrorism Prevention has removed […] More
One Bad Decision on Syria Doesn’t Necessarily Lead to Another
President Donald Trump now says U.S. troops will “slowly” be withdrawn from Syria after his controversial announcement in December, saying that troops would be pulled […] More
Preventing Terrorism Starts with a Plan
The Trump Administration’s National Strategy for Counterterrorism, released this past October, has received positive reviews for its balanced focus on the challenges associated with confronting […] More
How to Support and Distance Yourself from the President’s DoD Budget
OPINION — Navy Secretary Richard V. Spencer last week joined the very public chorus of defense experts in questioning whether President Trump’s call for reducing […] More
We’re The Government and We’re Here to Help Protect Critical Infrastructure
Cipher Brief Editorial Note: On the heels of Cybersecurity Awareness Month in October, President Donald Trump has proclaimed November as National Critical Infrastructure Security and […] More
General Michael Hayden on Threats Foreign and Domestic – Part One
As a best-selling author and television commentator, General Michael Hayden (ret.) has been vocal about the threats he sees – both foreign and domestic. The […] More
Nuclear Bargaining Chips in a Protracted Arms Race
OPINION — President Donald Trump’s recent threat to withdraw from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) provides another false justification for adding to a […] More
MbS: The New Saddam of Arabia?
As Mohammad bin Salman (MbS) has terrorized his opponents at home and abroad, fear has spread within the Saudi kingdom. Has he become the new […] More
A U.S.-Imposed Punishment for Jamal Khashoggi’s Death
OPINION — While President Trump’s claimed $110 billion in arms sales to Saudi Arabia remains “fake,” and shouldn’t be even considered “news,” there are deliveries […] More