Putin’s Mastery of Words Should be Noted
OPINION — Russian President Vladimir Putin’s four-hour end-of-year press conference told us a lot more about Russia and its leader than just his widely reported […] More
Putin
Putin’s Asymmetric Blind Spot
OPINION — Perhaps it is just a reckless Khrushchevesque opening gambit, but Russia’s recent security demands suggest that Vladimir Putin’s condition for avoiding military action […] More
The Talk Between Russia and the U.S.
OPINION — Military exercises and psychological warfare operations have been underway for months along the tense Russia-Ukraine and Poland-Belarus borders and care needs to be […] More
Havana and the Global Hunt for U.S. Officers
EXPERT OPINION — More than 200 U.S. officers have been hunted around the globe and targeted by an adversary using a mysterious weapon that causes […] More
Putin’s Calculated Afghanistan Play
Robert Dannenberg, Former Senior CIA Officer Cipher Brief Expert Rob Dannenberg is a 24-year veteran of the CIA, where he served in several senior leadership […] More
Biden’s National Security Test
Cipher Brief Expert John McLaughlin is former Acting Director of the CIA, former Deputy CIA Director and is the Distinguished Practitioner in Residence at the […] More
The Russians Have Issued a Wake Up Call
Weeks after a massive cyber breach of U.S. government agencies and private sector companies was publicly announced, there is still not a clear response from […] More
Biden’s Russia Challenge
Even though national security did not play a significant role during the U.S. presidential campaign, President-elect Joe Biden is set to inherent a world in […] More
Note to Adversaries: The U.S. isn’t as vulnerable as you think
Cipher Brief Expert Ambassador Joseph R. DeTrani was the former Special Envoy for Negotiations with North Korea and Director of the National Counterproliferation Center. He […] More
What We’ve Learned About Strengthening Allied Relationships
Cipher Brief Expert Nick Fishwick CMG retired in 2012 after nearly thirty years in the British Foreign Service. He did postings in Lagos, Istanbul and […] More
What a Biden Administration Means for the World
The Cipher Brief is a non-political media outlet focused on publishing expert perspectives on national security issues. We are committed to presenting multiple opinions to […] More
Trump’s Pre-Election Search for a National Security Win
OPINION — President Trump and his team are trying to come up with at least one last minute foreign policy success before Election Day, just […] More
Vladimir Putin’s Tragic Isolation
Dr. Kenneth Dekleva served as a Regional Medical Officer/Psychiatrist (including 5 years at the U.S. Embassy Moscow, Russian Federation) with the U.S. Dept. of State […] More
Putin’s Playbook for the West
The Cipher Brief continues it’s coverage on Russia this week in light of the poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. We tapped Cipher Brief Expert […] More
Poison, Protest & Putin’s Power
OPINION — Taken together, the protests underway in Belarus and the poisoning of Kremlin opponent Alexei Navalny — by what German doctors now say was […] More
Is Russia getting away with Murder?
(The Cipher Brief 2020 Threat Conference will host an interactive session on this topic during The Cipher Brief Threat Conference September 13-15. Find details in […] More
Global Knowledge Warfare: Using Strategic Imagination to Harness Uncertainty and Fear
Eric Shiraev, Political Psychologist, George Mason University “The Cipher Brief has become the most popular outlet for former intelligence officers; no media outlet is even […] More
Recruiting for Mother Russia
Last week, a former Army Green Beret captain was indicted, accused of providing national defense information to Russia in what appeared to be a spying […] More