What Follows Bahrain’s Normalization of Relations with Israel?
Cipher Brief Expert Emile Nakhleh is a retired CIA Senior Intelligence Service Officer and founding director of the CIA’s Political Islam Strategic Analysis Program Office. […] More
Israel
UAE-Israel deal serves bilateral relations, not larger issues
Cipher Brief Expert Emile Nakhleh is a retired CIA Senior Intelligence Service Officer and founding director of the CIA’s Political Islam Strategic Analysis Program Office. Nakhleh […] More
A Raw Deal for the Palestinians
Cipher Brief Expert Marc Polymeropoulos served 26 years in the CIA before retiring from the Senior Intelligence Service in June 2019. His positions included field […] More
Giving due credit for the agreement between Israel and the UAE
Dr. Kenneth Dekleva served as a Regional Medical Officer/Psychiatrist (including 5 years at the U.S. Embassy Moscow, Russian Federation) with the U.S. Dept. of State […] More
What Normalizing Relations Could Mean for the Middle East
The White House’s surprise announcement this past week that Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are formally normalizing relations was met with both open […] More
Iran and Israel Continue Their Shadow Conflict in Cyberspace
Bottom Line Up Front Israeli cyberattacks against Iran are intended to send a signal, as a means of pushing back against Iran’s actions in […] More
The Death of the Two-State Paradigm
If there was any doubt about the moribund state of the two-state paradigm in Palestine, the unveiling of the White House’s peace plan last month […] More
A Focus on Israel, Iran and Hezbollah
The Cipher Brief’s new Academic Incubator program publishes the work of undergraduate and graduate students, writing short briefs on national security issues. This week’s briefer […] More
Hezbollah Calls Israel’s Bluff
Bottom Line Up Front After Israel launched attacks in three different countries across the Middle East last week, Hezbollah responded by firing missiles at […] More
Israel Steps Up Attacks on Iranian Proxies
Bottom Line Up Front Israel claimed responsibility for a recent airstrike in Syria last weekend, signaling that the long-simmering shadow war between Israel and […] More
The Paucity of ‘Peace to Prosperity’
Bottom Line Up Front Under the leadership of Jared Kushner, the administration is attempting to cobble together a peace agreement between Israelis and Palestinians. […] More
Israel’s Top 5 Strategic Goals in 2019
OPINION — Israel is well-positioned as 2019 begins, but it is also primed to face serious challenges over the next twelve months. The following five […] More
The Changing Balance of Power in the Middle East
In part one of his two-part exclusive series for The Cipher Brief, AEI Scholar Kenneth Pollack, the author of the recently-released Armies of Sand: The Past, […] More
Colonial Palestinian Policy Doomed to Fail
Cipher Brief Experts don’t always agree on the issues. There is value in debate, so we offer a range of viewpoints to our readers to […] More
Syria Mistakenly Shoots Down a Russian Plane Over the Mediterranean
Bottom Line Up Front: On September 17, Syrian air defenses shot down a Russian Ilyushin Il-20 reconnaissance plane over the Mediterranean Sea. The Syrians were […] More
Violence in Gaza: “An Ugly Witch’s Brew”
Since the United States declared the opening of its new embassy in Jerusalem, violence has broken out along the border between Israel and the Gaza […] More
An Israeli View on Trump’s JCPOA Withdrawal: “Hope Is Not a Strategy”
The White House is correct in pointing out the weaknesses of the JCPOA, some of which have even been candidly acknowledged by former U.S. officials […] More
The Strategic Risks of Inaction on Syria’s Chemical Weapons
Bottom Line: Syria’s chemical weapons program not only contributes to a tragic humanitarian situation, but its uninhibited use and maintenance creates strategic implications for the […] More