Putin’s Calculated Afghanistan Play
Robert Dannenberg, Former Senior CIA Officer Cipher Brief Expert Rob Dannenberg is a 24-year veteran of the CIA, where he served in several senior leadership […] More
Putin
After Geneva: US – Russia Strategy Moving Forward
Robert Dannenberg, Fmr. Sr. CIA Officer, Former Chief of Security, Goldman Sachs “The Cipher Brief has become the most popular outlet for former intelligence officers; […] More
When it comes to Cyberattacks, Can we really just talk it out?
Walter Pincus is a contributing senior national security columnist for The Cipher Brief. He spent forty years at The Washington Post, writing on topics from nuclear […] More
What a Future Russia House Must Look Like
Next month’s planned meeting between US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to include conversations on Ukraine, COVID-19 and the recent […] More
Biden’s Russia Challenge
Even though national security did not play a significant role during the U.S. presidential campaign, President-elect Joe Biden is set to inherent a world in […] More
What a Biden Administration Means for the World
The Cipher Brief is a non-political media outlet focused on publishing expert perspectives on national security issues. We are committed to presenting multiple opinions to […] More
Vladimir Putin’s Tragic Isolation
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
Putin’s Playbook for the West
The Cipher Brief continues it’s coverage on Russia this week in light of the poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. We tapped Cipher Brief Expert […] More
Poison, Protest & Putin’s Power
OPINION — Taken together, the protests underway in Belarus and the poisoning of Kremlin opponent Alexei Navalny — by what German doctors now say was […] More
Is Russia getting away with Murder?
(The Cipher Brief 2020 Threat Conference will host an interactive session on this topic during The Cipher Brief Threat Conference September 13-15. Find details in […] More
Recruiting for Mother Russia
Last week, a former Army Green Beret captain was indicted, accused of providing national defense information to Russia in what appeared to be a spying […] More
Putin’s Cloak and Dagger Moves
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny is in a coma after doctors at the German hospital where he is being treated say he was poisoned. Last […] More
Putin’s Revenge
Cipher Brief Expert Ambassador Joseph DeTrani is former Director of the National Counterproliferation Center. The views are the authors and not any government agency or […] More
The Wagner Group: A Russian Symphony of Profit and Politics
Bottom Line Up Front Created in 2014, the Wagner Group is a Russian private military company that maintains close ties to the Kremlin and […] More
Author Gordon Corera talks about the Russians Among Us
Long-time BBC security correspondent Gordon Corera recently published a new book, Russians Among Us: Sleeper Cells, Ghost Stories and the Hunt for Putin’s Spies. […] More
Turkey and Russia Clash in Syria as Casualties Mount
Bottom Line Up Front Dozens of Turkish soldiers were killed in an airstrike on Thursday in a development that threatens to drastically escalate the […] More
Russia’s New Middle East Chessboard
On the sidelines of last weekend’s Munich Security Conference, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo sat down to talk. […] More
The Man in the Kremlin is Still Smiling, So What Have We Really Learned?
Cipher Brief Expert and former CIA Deputy Director for Counterintelligence, Mark Kelton wrote for The Cipher Brief back in 2017 that, The Man in the […] More