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
Intelligence
An Inside Account of the US Evacuation from Libya
Sarah Carlson is the author of a new book, In the Dark of War: A CIA Officer’s Inside Account of the U.S. Evacuation from Libya based in […] More
The Unconventional Case for Body Cameras
James Van de Velde, Ph.D., is an Adjunct Faculty Member at Johns Hopkins University. He can be reached at [email protected] OPINION — High technology has […] 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
Testing Trump’s Team
OPINION — US Government officials, civilian and military, alike may be facing unusual tests in the next four months: Does their loyalty rest with the […] More
Pandemics, Warning and the Intelligence Community
Cipher Brief Expert Jim Danoy is a retired defense intelligence executive and served as the National Intelligence Manager for Europe and NATO and a President’s […] More
Equal Justice and National Security
Brigham Bechtel is a former CIA Chief of Station. He now works for Coverent and serves at Navigators Global as a Senior Strategist -Security, Defense, […] More
A Rare Glimpse Inside the Life of a Spy
(Editor’s Note: Understanding the life of a spy is often difficult, especially understanding the experiences of those who spend much of their careers working undercover. […] More
Where are Tensions with North Korea Headed?
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
Where are Ripples from the Oil War Heading?
Global markets responded on Monday to fears of a second-wave of coronavirus infections and one of the industries feeling the pressure is the gas and […] More
What 1989 Tiananmen might tell us about 2020 Hong Kong
Cipher Brief Expert Martin Petersen is the former Deputy Executive Director of the CIA. At the time of Tiananmen, he was Deputy Director of the […] 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
The US Must Deal Swiftly with an Assertive China
Ambassador Joseph DeTrani is a fluent Mandarin Chinese speaker who served over two decades with the Central Intelligence Agency as a member of the Senior […] 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
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 Right Collaboration on 5G is Critical
OPINION — During a roundtable at the State Department last week, Attorney General William Barr emphasized how “our national security and the flourishing of our […] More
National Security Lessons on the Climate
“Lessons adopted” is a much more important concept than “lessons learned.” Lessons adopted requires the learning of lessons, but it also requires a more important […] More
Libya’s Carpe Diem?
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