Fifteen Years After 9/11: Much Accomplished, Much to be Done
Sunday marks the fifteenth anniversary of 9/11, the date that altered the trajectory of America’s national security apparatus. The country’s focus turned from defending against […] More
Counterterrorism
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
Terrorism and Paradigm Shifts and Pyrrhic Victories
The latest terrorist attack in Nice, France on Thursday, reminded us of the long struggle in the global war on terrorism since 9/11. The West […] More
Implications of Top Pakistani Taliban Leader’s Death
The leader of one of the deadliest factions within the Pakistani Taliban (TTP), Omar Mansoor, was killed in an airstrike in Afghanistan on Wednesday, U.S. […] More
The Hydra and the Snake: The Death of Osama Bin Laden
At 11:00 AM, five years ago Monday, sailors on the USS Carl Vinson watched the shrouded body of Osama bin Laden slide into the North […] More
Is the World Safer?
Five years ago, U.S. special operations forces killed Osama bin Laden in a raid on his hiding place in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Although al Qaeda had […] More
The Efficacy of Leadership Decapitation
The Pentagon announced Friday that U.S. forces have killed Abu Sayed, the leader of ISIS-Khorasan – ISIS’ affiliate in Afghanistan – in a drone strike […] More
An Emerging Crime-Terror Nexus in Europe
An emerging nexus between terror and crime in Europe needs to be addressed with an even stronger nexus between law enforcement, the intelligence community, and […] More
Increasingly Vulnerable
In 2012, the European Parliament commissioned and published a study entitled: “Europe’s Crime-Terror Nexus: Links between terrorist and organised crime groups in the European Union.” […] More
The Blurred Line
Terrorism and crime have always been closely linked and the dividing line between them blurred. For terrorist groups, criminality can be an end in itself. […] More
The Three Dynamics of the Fight Against ISIS
Michael Morell, the former Deputy Director and twice Acting Director of CIA, spoke with The Cipher Brief about battling ISIS and how the terrorist attacks […] More
The Security Challenge of Terror
In the aftermath of a terrorist attack like the one in Brussels this week, we naturally focus on the loss of life and the people […] More
Remaining Vigilant
The Cipher Brief: First Paris, then San Bernardino, now Brussels. How widespread are ISIS networks in Europe and North America and can we expect these […] More
Making the Investment
The Cipher Brief: First Paris, then San Bernardino, now Brussels. How widespread are ISIS networks in Europe and North America and can we expect these […] More
The Scourge of Terrorism
The tragic events in Brussels on Tuesday once again brought to the forefront the seemingly never ending battle to fight the scourge of terrorism. As […] More
Between the Expected and the Inevitable
The Cipher Brief: First Paris, then San Bernardino, now Brussels. How widespread are ISIS networks in Europe and North America, and can we expect these […] More
No Perfect Defense
The Cipher Brief: First Paris, then San Bernardino, then Brussels. How widespread are Islamic State networks in Europe, and can we expect these kind of […] More