What Intelligence was there on Afghanistan?
When The Washington Post reported this week that CIA Director William Burns slipped into Afghanistan on Monday to meet with Taliban leader Abdul Ghani Baradar, […] More
CIA
Remembering a True Leader through CIA Crisis and Controversy
Cipher Brief Expert General Michael V. Hayden (Ret.) is a retired four-star General in the United States Air Force; he was the Director of the […] More
Afghanistan’s Dark End Game
Cipher Brief Expert John E. McLaughlin is the Distinguished Practitioner in Residence at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). He served as […] More
An Open-Source Brief: former CIA Officer Marc Polymeropoulos
We’re starting a new segment on The Cipher Brief’s Open-Source Collection Podcast and adding to the line-up of curated headlines we bring you from around […] More
A Few Alternate Paths to Resuming Negotiations with North Korea
Cipher Brief Ambassador Joseph DeTrani is former Special envoy for Six Party Talks with North Korea and the U.S. Representative to the Korea Energy Development […] More
National Security and the Orthodoxy of Tribes
Carmen Medina is a former CIA Deputy Director of Intelligence. A 32-year veteran of the Intelligence Community, she is also the author of Rebels at […] More
What Iran’s Election Tells Us About Where It’s Headed
Hard-line cleric Ebrahim Raisi won Iran’s presidential election on Saturday in a move that is expected to bolster the conservative legacy of the country’s supreme […] More
Why the China – Russia Relationship Should Worry You – Part Two
Ties between Russia and China go far beyond mutual lessons-learned and policy coordination. They have entered into cooperative arrangements that pose clear dangers for the […] More
Why the China – Russia Relationship Should Worry You – Part One
In 1937, Winston Churchill contrasted the “two rival religions” of Nazism and Communism then afflicting the world. Those fascist and communist “infernal twins”, he wrote, […] More
What a Future Russia House Must Look Like
Next month’s planned meeting between US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to include conversations on Ukraine, COVID-19 and the recent […] More
The US Intelligence Community Needs a ‘Wild Bill’ Moment
Ellen McCarthy, Former Asst. Secretary of State for Intelligence & Research Cipher Brief Expert Ellen E. McCarthy was appointed by President Trump to be the […] More
China’s Risky Record on Climate
US Climate Envoy John Kerry is in China ahead of a Climate Summit next week hosted by US President Joe Biden. As tensions between the […] More
A Worldwide Threats Hearing Guide from the Bleachers
As US Worldwide Threats hearings get underway in Washington after a two-year hiatus, experts will be watching to see how the Biden Administration’s new senior […] More
Report: An Analysis of Bitcoin’s Use in Illicit Finance
As Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies rise to record levels ahead of the direct offering of crypto exchange Coinbase, former Acting CIA Director Michael Morell is […] More
How Technology is Driving US Intelligence
Walter Pincus is a contributing senior national security columnist for The Cipher Brief. He spent forty years at The Washington Post, writing on topics from nuclear […] More
The Realities of Diversity in Spycraft
Sonya Seunghye Lim is a former Chief of Station with the Central Intelligence Agency. Before retiring from the CIA’s Senior Intelligence Service, she had a […] More
The Spyhunter’s Burden
OPINION — A recent email from the current Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Chief of Counterintelligence (C/CI), wherein Agency retirees were reminded of their life-long obligation […] More
And One More Thing: Further Thoughts on How the IC Can do Better
Carmen Medina, Former CIA Deputy Director of Intelligence Cipher Brief Expert Carmen Medina is a former CIA Deputy Director of Intelligence. A 32-year veteran of […] More