Experts Doubt Aleppo "Regime of Calm"
Strikes and continuous violence have strained the fresh Aleppo cease-fire the United States and Russia brokered this week, leaving experts doubtful any cessation of hostilities […] More
ISIS
What Drives ISIS
Broadcasting brutal murder videos, enslaving religious minorities, training and deploying child soldiers, carrying out suicide bombings at crowded intersections – these are just some of […] More
Fueling the Islamic State's Engine
Our basic understanding of the Islamic State’s ambitions, and its justifications of those ambitions, remains muddled. “Remaining and expanding” and “a caliphate on the Prophet […] More
The Islamist Ideology
Is ISIS Islamic? Probably not. Is it Islamist? Definitely. An Islamist is one who believes in a version of Islam which would impose a politicized […] More
The Gap Between Myth and Reality
In the self-created mythical world that Donald Trump has conjured up through his GOP presidential nomination campaign, the Islamic State terrorists will be gone “very, […] More
Women and Jihad
When Tashfeen Malik and Syed Farook killed 14 people at a holiday office party in San Bernardino, California, the detail that stood out the most […] More
Turbulence in Turkey
In light of the ongoing military coup attempt in Istanbul, here is The Cipher Brief’s recent feature explaining the myriad problems facing Turkey. We will […] More
A Prolonged Period of Uncertainty
In the late 1970s, Turkey experienced a convulsion of political violence between leftist and rightist factions that killed almost five thousand people by the time […] More
Vulnerable to the Kurds, ISIS, and Refugees
The recent wave of violence in Turkey can be grouped into three categories. The first is the operations led by Turkish security forces in parts […] More
A Closer Look at Sanders’ National Security Strategy
It’s time to take a closer look at the national security views of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT). At a campaign rally in […] More
The Next President's Choices on ISIS
Despite some recent successes against ISIS, including military strikes against top leaders such as Hajji Imam and the Russian-backed Syrian victory against ISIS in Palmyra, […] More
The Three Dynamics of the Fight Against ISIS
Michael Morell, the former Deputy Director and twice Acting Director of CIA, spoke with The Cipher Brief about battling ISIS and how the terrorist attacks […] More
Eliminating Targets: Death of ISIS #2 Leader
This morning, U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter announced the death of ISIS’ number two leader, Abd al-Rahman Muhammad Mustafa al-Qaduli, also known as Haji […] More
European Unity in the Face of Crises
Europe is used to dealing with crises. In fact, what we now call the European Union is a result of one of the biggest crises […] More
The United States Needs Europe
The United States needs strong allies in Europe. The United States also needs European unity. This has been a recurrent theme in Barack Obama’s foreign […] More
The Security Challenge of Terror
In the aftermath of a terrorist attack like the one in Brussels this week, we naturally focus on the loss of life and the people […] More
Remaining Vigilant
The Cipher Brief: First Paris, then San Bernardino, now Brussels. How widespread are ISIS networks in Europe and North America and can we expect these […] More
Making the Investment
The Cipher Brief: First Paris, then San Bernardino, now Brussels. How widespread are ISIS networks in Europe and North America and can we expect these […] More