Faking It: Europe-Turkey Relations
Relations between Europe and Turkey are tense. In the past weeks, Turkey has called the Netherlands “the capital of fascism” and accused Germany of “fascist […] More
Allies
Turkey’s EU Crisis
Turkey’s damaging crisis with Europe is self-generated in large part – a tactic sometimes used by Ankara to create a problem and then hold the […] More
Cipher Brief Expert View: The IC’s Critical Role
We are living in a more complex world, with more state and non-state actors demanding more of our attention. When we actively contributed to the […] More
The Deep State Mirage in Turkey
The so-called “deep state” is like dark matter. There is wide belief in countries like Turkey, Egypt, and Pakistan that it exists, but no one […] More
Trump and Merkel Show Solidarity but Differ on Trade, Security
U.S. President Donald Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel met face to face for the first time Friday during Merkel’s visit to Washington. In a […] More
Trump’s “Skinny Budget” Would Fatten the Military
President Donald Trump released his $1.5 trillion budget on Thursday, a blueprint that would boost military and border security spending as it makes deep funding […] More
The U.S.-Japan Alliance: Reform and Uncertainty
Japan is a nation in flux. Economically, the government is struggling to stoke growth with expansionary monetary policy and reform; demographically, it is challenged by […] More
U.S.-Japan Defense Relations Under Trump
During the 2016 U.S. presidential contest, Donald Trump was highly critical of the structure and costs of the U.S.-Japan mutual defense relationship and openly raised the possibility […] More
Trump and East Asia: Moving from Campaign Mode to Governing
After a presidential campaign peppered with accusations of inadequate burden-sharing by Japan in its security relationship with the United States, President Donald Trump has attempted […] More
Change of Tone for Trump? Views from The Cipher Brief Network
The bombastic, bleak tone from his Inaugural Address was gone. In his address to Congress Tuesday night, President Donald Trump was more optimistic, talking about […] More
Former Colleagues Say New National Security Advisor is “Type A” Individual
Strong-willed and innovative, at times even iconoclastic, are the words being used to describe President Donald Trump’s choice for National Security Advisor, Lieutenant General H.R. […] More
The Gulf Cooperation Council Operates in a Tumultuous Region
At a time that several Middle Eastern nations are plagued with civil strife, the Gulf Cooperation Council is a beacon of unity that has contributed […] More
GCC: A Force for Regional Stability
The Cipher Brief sat down with Marcelle Wahba, President of the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Arab […] More
Saudi-Iranian Tension Drives GCC Policy
The Cipher Brief sat down the Former U.S. Ambassador to Oman, Gary Grappo, to discuss the current state of affairs in the Gulf Cooperation Council. […] More
The Tip of the Iceberg
The resignation of National Security Advisor Michael Flynn came only three weeks into a whirlwind beginning for the Trump Administration. The Cipher Brief’s Leone Lakhani […] More
A Matter of Trust, Not Security
With the resignation of National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, there have been questions about the security implications of his conversations with the Russian Ambassador to […] More
Flynn Controversy Raises New Questions
The White House sought to present the resignation of President Donald Trump’s National Security Advisor, Michael Flynn, as a closed chapter tied to his deceiving […] More
The Canada-U.S. Defence Relationship: What Next?
When President Barack Obama came to Ottawa as part of the “bromance” with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, he said that the world needed “more Canada,” […] More