Security/Stability

The Olympic Games have been a nice distraction for Brazil but will leave the country with nothing gained – the negatives balancing out the positives […] More

With the Rio Olympics wrapping in just a few days, The Cipher Brief’s Kaitlin Lavinder spoke with Director of Research at the Rio-based Igarapé Institute, […] More

The Olympic Games are supposed to bring international prestige to host countries, if all goes well. But Rio 2016 is an example of a government […] More

Nigeria faces three distinct security crises, with one common thread: failure of governance. Terrorist group Boko Haram continues to wreak havoc in the north, a […] More

Militants in the south of Nigeria – in the area known as the Niger Delta – are blowing up oil pipelines and destroying other essential […] More

After a brief moment in the sunshine four years ago, the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt has retreated deep into the shadows under perhaps the most […] More

August 14 2013 was the most violent day in contemporary Egyptian history.  Security forces brutally dispersed demonstrations in northern Cairo’s Rabaa al-Adawiya Square and Giza’s […] More

German Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière announced on Thursday proposals for strengthening Germany’s security apparatus, after four attacks – three committed by refugees – shook […] More

With Taliban and ISIS attacks occurring in Afghanistan almost daily, questions surrounding the direction of the country’s security apparatus loom large. Despite U.S. President Barack […] More

As the Taliban and ISIS continue to launch attacks across Afghanistan, U.S. and Afghan forces face the daunting task of bringing stability to one of […] More

The Cipher Brief spoke with Congressman Will Hurd of Texas about the increasing security challenges in Afghanistan. According to Hurd, U.S. objectives in Afghanistan have […] More

At least 97 people were killed and hundreds more injured across the Oromia and Amhara regions of Ethiopia over the weekend, when Ethiopian security forces […] More

As a landlocked country with three of its immediate neighbors ranked in the top four of the most Fragile States Index, it is in Ethiopia’s […] More

Ethiopia faced one of the worst droughts in decades this year due to unusually strong El Niño effects, linked to climate change. The Cipher Brief’s […] More

In an announcement on August 9th, Japan’s Foreign Minister stated that China-Japan relations were “deteriorating” in reaction to the recent incursions by Chinese vessels into […] More

In her first press briefing as Japan’s new Defense Minister, Tomomi Inada sidestepped questions over Japan’s actions in the Nanjing massacre during WWII, confirming for […] More

The adversarial relationship between China and Japan reaches back centuries, and the memories of Japan’s imperial past continue to plague a productive and peaceful relationship. […] More

Delta Airlines on Monday canceled hundreds of flights after a power outage in Atlanta sparked global computer issues for the carrier. The commercial aviation industry […] More