Members Only The Drone Series: Expanding Horizons for Drone Technology
“The Cipher Brief has become the most popular outlet for former intelligence officers; no media outlet is even a close second to The Cipher Brief […] More
Latest Russia Briefs
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This is How Putin’s Strategic Patience May Pay Off in Ukraine
EXPERT PERSPECTIVE — Russia is gradually beginning to prevail in Ukraine and the West is just starting to lose focus. Neither France and Germany nor […] More
Members Only The Waves left by the Sinking of the Moskva
“The Cipher Brief has become the most popular outlet for former intelligence officers; no media outlet is even a close second to The Cipher Brief […] More
Members Only ‘Who’s The Fairest Vlad of All’: Expert Perspective on the Russian President’s Next Move
“The Cipher Brief has become the most popular outlet for former intelligence officers; no media outlet is even a close second to The Cipher Brief […] More
Members Only The Spies Sent Back to the Cold
“The Cipher Brief has become the most popular outlet for former intelligence officers; no media outlet is even a close second to The Cipher Brief […] More
Members Only NATO Prepares for Battle
“The Cipher Brief has become the most popular outlet for former intelligence officers; no media outlet is even a close second to The Cipher Brief […] More
The Core of Putin’s Weakness
OPINION — In 2017, I wrote a short piece for Foreign Policy asking if Putin was more a product of his KGB background and personal […] More
Members Only Putting Europe’s Energy Problem into Perspective
“The Cipher Brief has become the most popular outlet for former intelligence officers; no media outlet is even a close second to The Cipher Brief […] More
Did The Cold War Ever Really End?
Sonya Seunghye Lim, Former Chief of Station, CIA Sonya Seunghye Lim is a former Chief of Station with the Central Intelligence Agency where she had […] More
The Cruelty of Half Measures in Ukraine
Doug Wise, Former Deputy Director, Defense Intelligence Agency Douglas H. Wise served as Deputy Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency from August 2014 until August […] More
Members Only NATO’s Emergency Session Will Move Us Closer to What?
“The Cipher Brief has become the most popular outlet for former intelligence officers; no media outlet is even a close second to The Cipher Brief […] More
Members Only The Cornered Putin Problem
“The Cipher Brief has become the most popular outlet for former intelligence officers; no media outlet is even a close second to The Cipher Brief […] More
Members Only How Russians Can Bring an End to Putin’s Chekist State
“The Cipher Brief has become the most popular outlet for former intelligence officers; no media outlet is even a close second to The Cipher Brief […] More
Members Only With His only Option being Escalation, this is How Putin’s War Must End
“The Cipher Brief has become the most popular outlet for former intelligence officers; no media outlet is even a close second to The Cipher Brief […] More
How Putin is Drawing the World into its Most Dangerous Time in History
EXPERT PERSPECTIVE — Putin has been sucked into the conquest and occupation of a hostile Ukraine; the very circumstance he has sought to avoid over […] More
Members Only China and the Global Power Play in Ukraine
“The Cipher Brief has become the most popular outlet for former intelligence officers; no media outlet is even a close second to The Cipher Brief […] More
Members Only Ukraine and an Assessment of how a Bad Situation Could Get Much Worse
“The Cipher Brief has become the most popular outlet for former intelligence officers; no media outlet is even a close second to The Cipher Brief […] More
‘Watch’ or ‘Stand Against’ the Digital Machinery of Aggression in Ukraine
OPINION — The machinery of aggression moves across the land of the people of Ukraine to their capital. There should be no words to argue […] More
Members Only Could This be Putin’s Big Tango?
“The Cipher Brief has become the most popular outlet for former intelligence officers; no media outlet is even a close second to The Cipher Brief […] More
Members Only The US is Engaging in a Strategy to Share Intelligence on Russia More Broadly. Is it Worth the Risk?
“The Cipher Brief has become the most popular outlet for former intelligence officers; no media outlet is even a close second to The Cipher Brief […] More
The Outlier: What if Putin’s Real Target isn’t Ukraine?
EXPERT PERSPECTIVE — We have a long history of misreading Russian intentions. The classic example was the judgement by the British Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC) […] More
Putin’s Risky Options in Ukraine
EXPERT PERSPECTIVE — It is still more probable than not that Russian President Vladimir Putin will employ military force in the coming weeks. He is […] More
Members Only Anticipating Russia’s Next Move in Ukraine
“The Cipher Brief has become the most popular outlet for former intelligence officers; no media outlet is even a close second to The Cipher Brief […] More
The Value of a Well-Placed Spy in Moscow
EXPERT PERSPECTIVE — I hope CIA has an agent like Dmitry Polyakov operating in Moscow right now. A Major General in Soviet Military Intelligence (the […] More