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The Future of US Intelligence: Leaner, Smarter, and Tech-Focused

EXPERT OPINION — It is time to reimagine the US intelligence community (IC). The 1947 National Security Act established the CIA which arguably had [...] More

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The Cipher Brief's Hottest Summer Reading

The Cipher Brief's Hottest Summer Reading

CIPHER BRIEF FEATURE REPORTING -- With the 4th of July holiday fast approaching, now is a good time for our annual summer list of recommended beach [...] More

The Central Role of Women in the CIA

BOOK REVIEW: AGENTS OF CHANGE: The Women Who Transformed the CIABy Christina Hillsberg / Citadel June 24. 2025Reviewed by: Jennifer EwbankThe [...] More

Cloth and Dagger – A Deep Dive in the World of Espionage and the Vatican

BOOK REVIEW: VATICAN SPIES: From the Secord World War to Pope FrancisBy Yvonnick Donoël/ HurstReviewed by: Rolf Mowatt-LarssenThe Reviewer — Rolf [...] More

Rogg's History of Intelligence: Insightful, But Incomplete

BOOK REVIEW: The Spy and the State: The History of American IntelligenceBy Jeffrey P. Rogg / Oxford University PressReviewed by: Jason U. [...] More

The President's Daily Brief: No Assembly Required?

The President's Daily Brief: No Assembly Required?

EXPERT INTERVIEW — It’s a document that rarely makes news, for obvious reasons: the whole point of the President‘s Daily Brief (PDB) – a summary of [...] More

What Could Follow the U.S. Surprise in Syria?

What Could Follow the U.S. Surprise in Syria?

CIPHER BRIEF REPORTING – President Donald Trump made a number of headlines this week as he led an impressive delegation of government and private [...] More

Expert Q&A: A CIA Veteran on the Agency's Technology Mission

EXPERT Q&A – CIA veteran Sheetal Patel helped stand up and then lead the spy agency’s Transnational and Technology Mission Center in 2022, at a time [...] More

Who’s Winning the Intelligence War in Ukraine?

Who’s Winning the Intelligence War in Ukraine?

CIPHER BRIEF REPORTING – It’s often lost in all the news from the battlefield in Ukraine, and the various negotiations underway in pursuit of a peace [...] More

Expert Q&A: A Vietnam Veteran and CIA Leader on Lessons from the War

EXPERT Q&A — John McLaughlin was drafted and sent to Vietnam as an intelligence officer in 1969. He would later have a distinguished career in the [...] More

Intel Chiefs Detail Top Threats – and Get a Grilling Over Signal Leak

Intel Chiefs Detail Top Threats – and Get a Grilling Over Signal Leak

SPECIAL REPORT – The U.S. Intelligence Community’s (IC) annual assessment of threats facing the U.S. puts narcotics trafficking at the top of the [...] More

Amid Calls for ‘Overhaul,’ Challenges Facing the Intelligence Community

BOTTOM LINE UP FRONT — President Donald Trump vowed throughout his 2024 campaign that if elected, he would initiate a revamp of the intelligence [...] More

A High-level Briefing on Russia for the next U.S. President

EXPERT OPINION – Dear 47th President of the United States, congratulations on your victory and thank you for your willingness to serve as the leader [...] More