Tracking Troop Totals in Afghanistan – America’s Longest War
The longest war in U.S. history enters its 17th year on Saturday, with approximately 11,000 American forces still stationed in Afghanistan. The campaign began on […] More
Counter-extremism
Manchester Attack Deadliest in UK Since 2005 London Bombings
As details emerge about an explosion in Manchester, England that left at least 22 people dead and dozens injured, British Prime Minister Theresa May said […] More
Don’t Ignore Home-Grown Hate Groups
In February, reports emerged that the administration of President Donald Trump was considering rebranding the Obama-era Countering Violent Extremism program to “Countering Radical Islamic Extremism.” […] More
U.S. Policy to Counter Violent Extremism is Incoherent
The Cipher Brief’s Bennett Seftel spoke with Michael Leiter, former Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, about U.S. government efforts to counter violent extremism. Leiter […] More
The Latest
Rebranding Countering Violent Extremism Programs: A Sharper Focus or Missing the Point?
U.S. counterterrorism efforts have achieved their fair share of successes – killing terrorist leaders with drone strikes and commando raids, keeping terrorist cells on the […] More
Bureaucracy and Jihadism
A number of trends now seem to be accepted truths after nearly 16 years of fighting against jihadi terrorism. We have achieved concrete victories in […] More
Doubling Down Against the Jihadist Message
With the recent U.S. military raid in Yemen and the ongoing campaign in Mosul, the Trump Administration is so far continuing the United States’ longstanding […] More
The Power of Persuasion in Countering Terror
As part of the State Department’s Bureau of Counterterrorism and Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) during the Obama administration, Michael Ortiz helped develop and launch a […] More
Countering Extremism: A Problem for Civil Society
The Cipher Brief‘s Executive Producer and Reporter Leone Lakhani, spoke with Haras Rafiq, CEO of Quilliam, to discuss how the organization works to counter the […] More
A Changing of the Guard: U.S. Counterterrorism Policy
Though January will see a major transition in American power, the global threat of terrorism will remain. As the Obama Administration enters its final weeks […] More
A Problem Larger than Terrorism
As the calendar approaches January 21st and President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office, the Cipher Brief sat down with Patrick Skinner of the Soufan […] More
The Post-Caliphate Counterterrorism Challenge
The Cipher Brief spoke with network member and former Acting Director of the CIA, John McLaughlin, about the current U.S. counterterrorism strategy, as well as […] More
Terrorists Don't Have to Win – They Just Have to Survive: Counterterrorism in 2016
Editor’s Note: Over the coming days, The Cipher Brief presents some of our most incisive coverage on key issues of 2016 and a look ahead […] More
Counter Messaging, Not Divisive Rhetoric: Effective Counterterrorism in 2017
The Cipher Brief sat down with Matthew Olsen, former Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, to discuss the terrorist threat in the coming year. According […] More
The Missed Opportunity to Counter the Terrorism Message
In the middle of the night on May 17th, 2015, United States military forces entered Syria to capture Abu Sayyaf, a key Islamic State leader […] More
The Private Sector Role in Countering Violent Extremism
As government efforts to challenge terrorist propaganda online are often met with distrust by the very people they are trying to reach, the private sector […] More