The Unintended Consequences of Military Aid
This Academic Incubator column is part of an academic partnership with the Nunn School of International Affairs at the Georgia Institute of Technology, presenting regular […] More
Intelligence
Can Esmail Qaani Lead Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps – Qods Force?
Bottom Line Up Front The operations of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps – Qods Force (IRGC-QF) will continue unabated despite the death of its […] More
The Worst Possible Day: US Telecommunications and Huawei – Pt. 2
Thomas Donahue is a Cipher Brief expert and former Senior Director for Cyber Operations on the U.S. National Security Council Staff. His article was originally published […] More
Succession: Kremlin Style
Bottom Line Up Front Russian President Vladimir V. Putin is continuing his ironclad grip on power through newly introduced changes to the Russian constitution. […] More
The Worst Possible Day: U.S. Telecommunications and Huawei
Thomas Donahue is a Cipher Brief expert and former Senior Director for Cyber Operations on the U.S. National Security Council Staff. His article was originally […] More
Questions to be asking about Iran and Iraq
John McLaughlin served as the Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency from 2000-2004 and served as Acting Director of the CIA in 2004. He […] More
Congress MIA on Oversight Responsibilities
OPINION — When are members of Congress going to wake up and play their Constitutional role as an equal branch of government? Neither the Democratic […] More
The House that Putin is Building
Rob Dannenberg is a 24-year veteran of the CIA, where he served in several senior leadership positions, including chief of operations for the Counterterrorism Center, […] More
The Promise and Perils of the Iranian Protests
Bottom Line Up Front Iran has experienced intermittent periods of unrest in the decades since its Islamic Revolution of 1979, but the situation unfolding […] More
What Made Sultan Qaboos the Best Friend Americans Never Knew
Sultan Qaboos bin Said, the ruler of Oman and the Middle East’s longest serving ruler, died on January 10 after nearly 50 years in power. […] More
Al-Shabaab is Resurging in Somalia
Bottom Line Up Front Al-Shabaab, the al-Qaeda-linked jihadist group in Somalia, is resurging again and demonstrating the ability to launch attacks with impunity. Since […] More
Pensacola Attack Labeled Terrorism as U.S. Expels Saudi Military Students
Bottom Line Up Front Early this week, U.S. Attorney General William Barr labeled the December 6 shooting at Naval Air Station Pensacola as an […] More
Soleimani and the Path to a new Middle East Peace Deal
Emile Nakhleh is a retired CIA Senior Intelligence Service Officer and founding director of the CIA’s Political Islam Strategic Analysis Program Office. Nakhleh is currently […] More
The Iranian Threat to the U.S. Homeland
Bottom Line Up Front Following the strike that killed Qasem Soleimani and the Iranian response that targeted Iraqi bases, the possibility of a conventional […] More
Is a New Strategy Emerging for Targeted Killings?
OPINION — Ten minutes into President Trump’s speech at his first 2020 presidential re-election campaign rally in Toledo, Ohio, last Friday, he drew great cheers […] More
The Pensacola Shooting: When Trust Among Allies Fails
The U.S. is considering whether it will expel more than a dozen Saudi Arabian military students after a shooting at a naval base in Pensacola, […] More
Turkey Enters the Conflict in Libya
Bottom Line Up Front Turkey has intervened in Libya’s internecine civil war in an effort to prop up the increasingly beleaguered Government of National […] More
How I Build My Own Brief
TRUSTED SOURCE – In this day of disinformation and facts blending routinely with political opinion and being passed off as objective news, The Cipher Brief […] More