How a Former CIA Deputy Director Avoids Cognitive Traps
The Intelligence Community’s job is to brief policymakers on what the US knows, in order to help them make better decisions. There is a process […] More
experts on national security
What Turning a Blind Eye to the World Will Cost Us
John McLaughlin served as the Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency from 2000-2004 and Acting Director of the CIA in 2004. He is a […] More
China’s Arctic Ambitions
The US State Department recently named career diplomat James DeHart as the US’ first coordinator for the Arctic region. DeHart’s job is to coordinate US […] More
A Look Inside the Justice Department’s National Security Priorities
Last week, the Justice Department brought an indictment against two individuals accused of working with China’s Ministry of State Security to conduct a decade-long cyber […] More
COVID Lessons Learned From Tackling Extremist Ideologies
Farah Pandith, Former Special Representative to Muslim Communities, US Department of State Farah Pandith served as a political appointee under Presidents George H.W. Bush, George […] More
When Congressional Hearings become Overtly Political
OPINION — On Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to vote on an authorization for Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) to issue subpoenas to 53 individuals, […] More
The Problem(s) with the Administration’s Approach to Arms Control and Open Skies
OPINION — Last week, President Trump announced that the U.S. was giving six months’ notice that it would be pulling out of another international agreement, […] More
A General’s View of Future Information Wars
OPINION — U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) is expanding its Military Information Support Operations (MISO) because in the current environment, “great power competition is about […] More
In a Weird Way, My Career at CIA Prepared My Family for this Pandemic
Marc Polymeropoulos served 26 years at CIA, retiring from the Senior Intelligence Service in 2019. He served overseas in the Middle East and South Asia, […] More
Heading Off a Cold War with China
Ambassador Joseph DeTrani is former Special envoy for Six Party Talks with North Korea and the U.S. Representative to the Korea Energy Development Organization (KEDO), […] More
How Recorded Future Sees What’s Ahead
This column is part of our new series, ‘From the C-Suite’, focused on how leaders from the private sector – in their own words – […] More
The Case for an Intelligence Community Innovation Unit
OPINION — In the face of a world-altering pandemic, we must take this opportunity to create space for innovation within the Intelligence Community. I left […] 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
Coronavirus: Behind the Chinese Bio Lab story
Yahoo News national security and investigations reporter Jenna McLaughlin published a story last week, under the headline ‘Intelligence officials weigh possibility coronavirus escaped from a […] More
Don’t Bet on China to Fill the Post-Pandemic Leadership Void
Cipher Brief Expert John McLaughlin is a distinguished practitioner in residence at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. He served as Deputy Director […] More
Our Collective Mission on Groundhog Day
General David Petraeus (US Army, Ret) served over 37 years in the U.S. military, culminating his career with six consecutive commands, five of which were […] More
COVID-19’s Impact on British National Security
Cipher Brief Expert Nick Fishwick CMG retired in 2012 after nearly thirty years in the British Foreign Service. He held postings in Lagos, Istanbul and […] More
The Ex-Spy’s Reading List in the Age of COVID-19
In the age of COVID-19, The Cipher Brief reached out to our expert network to ask what they were reading. Cipher Brief Expert Marc Polymeropoulos […] More