Remembering Brent Scowcroft’s Accomplishments on Arms Control
OPINION – One way to remember Brent Scowcroft’s major contributions to U.S. national security and foreign policy is to read the oral history he recorded […] More
Nuclear
The China Problem
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called out China’s claims in the South China Sea this week, saying they are “completely unlawful.” It was a distinctive […] More
What Follows a ‘Sayonara’ Foreign Policy
Cipher Brief Expert and former Acting CIA Director John McLaughlin is a distinguished practitioner in residence at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International […] More
Where are Tensions with North Korea Headed?
Ambassador Joseph DeTrani is former Special envoy for Six Party Talks with North Korea and the U.S. Representative to the Korea Energy Development Organization (KEDO), […] More
The Problem(s) with the Administration’s Approach to Arms Control and Open Skies
OPINION — Last week, President Trump announced that the U.S. was giving six months’ notice that it would be pulling out of another international agreement, […] More
Heading Off a Cold War with China
Ambassador Joseph DeTrani is former Special envoy for Six Party Talks with North Korea and the U.S. Representative to the Korea Energy Development Organization (KEDO), […] More
The OSINT Global Trendline Report
The Cipher Brief’s Open Source Trend Line Report utilizes open source data to track trends around the world that impact national and global security. We break the world […] More
What We Need Now are Intra-Korean Talks
Cipher Brief Expert Ambassador Joseph DeTrani was the former Special Envoy for Negotiations with North Korea. He is currently a Fellow at the Institute of […] More
The Latest US Nuclear War Game Gets Real
OPINION — On February 20, during his visit to Strategic Command (STRATCOM) headquarters near Omaha, Nebraska, Defense Secretary Mark Esper took part in a mini-war-game […] More
What Our Nuclear Future Looks Like
OPINION — Last Friday, the Associated Press and Reuters both reported that an un-named senior administration official said that the U.S. told Moscow that President […] More
US Foreign Policy and a ‘Bridge to the Unknown’
Cipher Brief Expert John McLaughlin is a distinguished practitioner in residence at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. He served as the Deputy […] More
What Does Another Nuclear Warhead Do?
OPINION — Should we all sleep easier because at last we have a low-yield nuclear warhead sitting atop a Trident D-5 sub-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) […] More
The Many Faces of Chairman Kim Jung Un
At the recent December 2019 plenum, Chairman Kim, rather than giving his traditional New Year’s speech, outlined a different strategy toward the US moving forward […] More
The Real Threat of a Nuclear Arms Race
Cipher Brief Expert Ambassador Joseph R. DeTrani was the former Special Envoy for Negotiations with North Korea. The 70th anniversary of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of […] More
Not Everyone Sees Soleimani’s Death the Same Way
In an interview with FOX News after the drone strike that killed Iranian General Qassem Soleimani last week, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said “Frankly, […] More
Cyber is the New Nuclear
OPINION — The Trump administration’s new attempt to open strategic nuclear talks with China “ASAP,” as mentioned in a State Department tweet last Friday, focuses […] More
Kim Jong Un’s Frustration and the Risk of Hybrid Warfare
EXPERT OPINION — Kim Jong-un is a desperate man. He has long believed that Donald Trump’s unpredictability and their quirky friendship offers him the best, […] More
Kim Jong-Un’s Bad Advice
Cipher Brief Expert Ambassador Joseph R. DeTrani was the former Special Envoy for Negotiations with North Korea. OPINION — North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, is […] More