Dispatches from Hanoi
After much anticipation of a signing ceremony between the U.S. and North Korea, President Donald Trump and North Leader Kim Jong-un left Hanoi with no […] More
President Trump
The Definition of Success in Hanoi
Expectations are high for the second summit of President Donald Trump and Chairman Kim Jung-Un. Most people assume that there wouldn’t be a second summit […] More
The Islamic State Will Live on Through Its Affiliates
Bottom Line Up Front Even after the collapse of the territorial caliphate in Iraq and Syria, the Islamic State will live on through its […] More
Ending Support for the War in Yemen
Bottom Line Up Front On February 13, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 248-177 to require the administration to end support for Saudi Arabia’s […] More
Blast from the Past: The Challenge of Splinter Groups and Generational Terror
Bottom Line Up Front On January 19, a car bomb exploded in Londonderry, Northern Ireland, believed to be the work of the New IRA. […] More
Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent: The Nucleus of Jihad in South Asia
Bottom Line Up Front The U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan will give terrorist groups like al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) more room to […] More
Smarter Border Security
The Government remains shut down after President Donald Trump offered a plan over the weekend to provide temporary protection to some groups of immigrants if […] More
Morass in the Middle East: Top Diplomats Dispatched to Defend U.S. Policy
Bottom Line Up Front U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will travel to eight Arab nations from January 8-15, as he attempts to lay […] More
The Greater Cost of U.S. Absence in Syria
As part of our special coverage on Syria, The Cipher Brief spoke with expert Emile Nakhleh, former member, CIA’s Senior Intelligence Service, to get his […] More
The U.S. Remains Incapable of Formulating a Coherent Syria Strategy
Bottom Line Up Front On December 19, 2018, President Trump unexpectedly announced a full withdrawal of all U.S. troops in Syria within the next […] More
The Yemen Policy Debate Heats Up
Bottom Line Up Front The October killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi has shifted U.S. congressional opinion sharply against Saudi Arabia’s de-facto leader, Crown […] More
Qatar Exits OPEC
Bottom Line Up Front Qatar’s withdrawal from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is strongly correlated to Doha’s ongoing rift with the cartel’s […] More
Trump and Xi Meet at G-20 Amidst Deteriorating China-U.S. Relations
Bottom Line Up Front On December 1, President Trump met Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Argentina. The […] More
The U.S. Military’s Border Enforcement Role
The President reaffirmed during his November 7 post-election press conference that the deployment of thousands of U.S. active duty military personnel to the nation’s southwest […] More
A King, a President and the Fate of MbS
Saudi Arabia and its crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, (MbS) are confronting a crisis. How they manage to extricate the kingdom will have potentially long-term […] More
Why Congress Will Not Build That Wall
The President’s recent tweet storm threatening to close the U.S.’s land border with Mexico and order military action to counter a “dangerous” caravan of asylum […] More
The President’s Summit Adventure Through an Intelligence Lens
OPINION: The eyes of an intelligence officer are trained to look for what a person’s behavior uncovers about his or her motivations and aspirations, which […] More
N. Korea, the U.S. and the Strange Path to Singapore
One wonders what the alien creature Griffin, portrayed by Michael Stuhlbarg in Men in Black III, and capable of seeing all possible futures, would […] More