The Debt that We Owe to the Fallen
Jimmy Hatch served 25 years and 11 months in the US Navy. The majority of that time was as a part of Naval Special Warfare. […] More
Intelligence
The Stars on the Wall
Kevin Hulbert is a former senior intelligence officer in the CIA’s Directorate of Operations who retired in June 2014, having served multiple overseas tours as […] More
The Zero-Sum Mentality of U.S.-China Trade Negotiations
On May 10, 2019, U.S. President Donald Trump announced a raise in tariffs on Chinese imports from 10 to 25%, further escalating the ongoing […] More
Deals Over Alliances
Bottom Line Up Front The U.S. is threatening the E.U. over the latter’s initiatives to increase member defense spending and cooperation. Washington objects to […] More
Last Stand in Idlib?
Bottom Line Up Front The Syrian government and its Russian and Iranian allies are making moves to retake Idlib from the last remaining pocket of […] More
Iran: On the Brink, or Not?
As tensions between the U.S. and Iran continue to rise, Cipher Brief expert Norm Roule answered subscriber’s questions in a Cipher Brief Members-Only webcast. What […] More
Ethnic and Religious Violence Surges in Sri Lanka
Bottom Line Up Front Reprisal attacks stemming from the Easter bombings in Sri Lanka have exacerbated religious and ethnic tensions, destabilizing the country as […] More
How an Escalation to War Could Happen with Iran
A series of events last week led to escalating tensions between the U.S. and Iran. While tensions had seemed to ease somewhat on Friday, President […] More
The Comeback of Hate in Europe
Bottom Line Up Front Germany is experiencing a renewed wave of virulent anti-Semitism and intimidation and violence directed toward immigrants, especially Muslims. Some German […] More
Does the U.S. Really Need Russia This Much?
WEEKEND EXTRA — What did U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo really get out of last week’s talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and […] More
Protection for the Election
Bottom Line Up Front After the well-documented Russian disinformation and influence campaign in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, some elements of the U.S. government […] More
A Brief Assessment of the U.S.’ Iran Strategy
It’s been a week of escalating tensions between the U.S. and Iran, beginning on Monday with reporting by The New York Times that senior U.S. […] More
A Crisis in the Camps
Bottom Line Up Front Most states, particularly those in the West, have refused to repatriate their citizens who joined the Islamic State and who […] More
WTOP’s JJ Green Gets Real About Journalism Today
If you’ve done any reporting on national security issues in Washington DC, you probably already know JJ Green. He’s been covering national security for the […] More
High-Tech Counterterrorism in China: Snapshots of a Dystopian Future
Bottom Line Up Front China has created a highly controlled environment in Xinjiang where it monitors ethnic Uighurs, relying on emerging technologies to track […] More
Six Degrees of Russia
Tuesday’s meeting between U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov covered a wide range of issues, including arms control, the […] More
The U.S.- Russian Venn Diagram
Tuesday’s meeting between U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Sochi, Russia, was the result of a recent phone […] More
Tensions Escalate Between the U.S. and Iran
Bottom Line Up Front Tensions have spiked between the U.S. and Iran recently, with both countries engaging in a series of tit-for-tat actions and […] More