The Times that Try Men’s Souls
OPINION – The military has become the U.S. institution in which the public has the most confidence, as measured by the latest Gallup Poll, which […] More
DoD
Lesson for DOD: Profits Drive Innovation
Cipher Brief Expert Robert Eatinger has 35 years of experience practicing law in the fields of national security, intelligence, and international law. He is a solo […] More
Congress Needs to Keep Up with AI
OPINION –The Defense Department’s unclassified investment in Artificial Intelligence (AI) has grown from $600 million five years ago, to a proposed $2.5 billion for fiscal […] More
Aligning Security Force Assistance for the Next Large-Scale Conflict
The Cipher Brief’s Academic Incubator program partners with colleges and Universities across the country to highlight the voices of the next generation of national security […] More
Getting to the Left of Boom in 21st Century Warfare
The author of this piece, Adam L. Silverman, PhD is a senior subject matter expert and consultant at Helios Global, Inc specializing in low intensity […] More
Fixing DOD’s Acquisition Problem
Robin Dreeke is a US Naval Academy graduate and veteran Marine Corps Officer. He spent twenty-one years as an FBI Special Agent specializing in counterintelligence […] More
Are We on the Brink of an Encounter with China?
OPINION — On the morning of Tuesday, July 7, FBI Director Christopher Wray told a Hudson Institute audience, “The greatest long-term threat to our nation’s […] More
The Real Russian Mission in Afghanistan
The House Foreign Affairs Committee is focusing on reported intelligence that Russia placed bounties on the lives of US troops in Afghanistan. The committee is […] More
What the 2030 Kill Chain Looks Like
OPINION — On July 1, one month before his scheduled retirement, Air Force Chief of Staff General David L. Goldfein gave a vivid description of […] More
A New Call to Arms for Drone Technology
OPINION — The Senate Armed Services Committee has recognized the vulnerabilities of today’s unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and called on the Defense Department “to develop […] More
Are We Ready for Another Shock?
OPINION — “Black swans” are events that arrive as unwelcome surprises and have significant effects on nations and societies. They can upend the status quo […] More
What Could Arming the First Island Chain Look Like?
OPINION — The Senate Armed Services Committee last week voted to provide the Pentagon with $6 billion over the next two years to create a […] More
An Apolitical Military is Essential to Maintaining Balance Among US Institutions
OPINION — Today, American institutions are front and center as we simultaneously confront the triple threat of an active pandemic, civil unrest spurred by racial […] More
NATO Imagines Future Warfare
Innovation is a key component of readiness when it comes to future threats. NATO’s Innovation Hub recently commissioned a short story from author August Cole, […] More
COVID and Navigating the New Middle East Challenges
The global pandemic caused by COVID-19 has added a significant layer of uncertainty to an already complicated situation in the Middle East. The Cipher Brief […] More
The Uneasy Balance between Care and Provocation
OPINION — This past March and April, US Naval Forces attached to Central Command carried out live fire exercises in the North Persian Gulf’s international […] More
DoD’s War Against Covid-19
OPINION — The Defense Department has gone to war against the coronavirus, employing some 50,000 troops on both offense and defense. Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen, […] More
Is COVID-19 America’s ‘East of Suez’ Moment?
Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, US Army (Ret) was the Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs from 2008-2009. Prior to that, he was the Deputy […] More