Security/Stability

Our newest Cipher Brief Expert, Robert Cardillo talked with us about lessons learned during his time serving as Director of the National Geospatial -Intelligence Agency […] More

When he became Secretary of Defense in early 2001, Donald Rumsfeld publicly expressed his concern about the inevitability of surprise. He often reminded other officials […] More

Last week, the U.S. nearly launched retaliatory attacks against Iran for the shooting down of a U.S. military drone that was operating in the region.  […] More

U.S. Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan recently warned that the U.S. “is not moving fast enough to stay ahead” of its rivals in space, specifically […] More

Ripped straight from the headlines, there are a number of current, inter-related political and security issues that could have a significant impact on the U.S.’ […] More

A number of U.S. companies including Google, Intel, Qualcomm and others are limiting business with Chinese telecommunications firm Huawei after the White House issued an […] More

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is expected to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov this week in Russia. The […] More

Recent Russian activities around the world are signaling a resurgent Russia, one that wants to shake up a world order that has existed for seven […] More

The Department of Defense is seeking a significant budget increase for further development of lethal autonomous weapons programs (LAWS).  While technology and the use of weapons […] More

Lethal autonomous weapons systems (LAWS) are weapons that need little, if any, human interaction in order to select and engage their targets. While technology to […] More

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

A lot has happened since China expert and Harvard Professor Graham Allison’s best-selling book on China, Destined for War: Can America and China Escape Thucydides […] More

When DHS was established shortly after 9/11, terrorism was the focus. But in the 16 years since the Agency’s creation, the threat landscape has changed […] More

The cyber landscape is drastically changing and the threats of today will pale in comparison to those our nation will face tomorrow. With the development […] More

Bottom Line: The dark web has long been a place where stolen personal data is bought and sold in staggering numbers, criminals run lucrative drug […] More

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

U.S. officials recently detailed an offensive cyber operation undertaken by U.S. Cyber Command to The Washington Post, revealing how the military blocked Internet access to […] More

The world is watching Hanoi this week as President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un hold their second summit meeting in less than […] More