What Scares Vladimir Putin?
The U.S. is calling for more rigorous enforcement of sanctions against Russia after Russian ships fired on and seized three Ukrainian boats on Sunday, claiming […] More
Putin
Putin’s Mad Soft Power Skills
OPINION — Russian President Vladimir Putin has managed to wage a global charm offensive, even while supporting a number of actions that have drawn world […] More
Nuclear Bargaining Chips in a Protracted Arms Race
OPINION — President Donald Trump’s recent threat to withdraw from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) provides another false justification for adding to a […] More
Putin’s Bold Attempt to Deny Skripal Attack
“The concept of plausible denial had an undeniable flavor of wishful thinking about it”, wrote CIA veteran William Hood in his book on Soviet military […] More
Why a Russia Strategy Matters
In a press conference on Monday, President Donald Trump reiterated his view that meeting with other world leaders is important, and again characterized his recent […] More
Nuclear Message to the World
OPINION — President Trump’s repeated message that Russia’s possession of nuclear weapons requires him to have better relations with Vladimir Putin, should encourage China to […] More
What is Putin’s Plan Now?
As most of the President’s men and women in senior roles re-iterated and even provided more detail about the Russian threat to U.S. national security […] More
Dispatches from Helsinki: A Shocking Summit Press Brief
Cipher Brief Expert and former CIA Station Chief Dan Hoffman was in Helsinki filing question and answer dispatches for Cipher Brief members. Here’s a look at […] More
What Did Putin Get From Helsinki Summit?
The Cipher Brief spoke with Jill Dougherty, Global Fellow at The Wilson Center and CNN’s former Moscow Bureau Chief, about what Putin will be able […] More
Dispatches from Helsinki
Cipher Brief Expert and former CIA Station Chief Dan Hoffman is on the ground in Helsinki filing question and answer dispatches for Cipher Brief members. […] More
Inside Putin’s Head
UPDATED: As U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin emerge from their summit meeting in Helsinki, Finland, in which no aides were allowed […] More
Top-Down Presidential Leadership: The Helsinki Summit
Two conditions are clear as the U.S. and Russian Presidents prepare meet in Helsinki. First, U.S.-Russian relations are arguably at their lowest point since the […] More
The Perils of a Putin-Trump Summit
As a former member of the CIA’s Senior Intelligence Service, I’m worried about the upcoming summit between the Chekist former KGB officer, President Vladimir Putin, […] More
Threat Report 2018: Russia’s Military Doctrine of Deception and Deniability
Bottom Line: Moscow’s increasingly assertive military activity in Eastern Europe and the Middle East seeks to project the power of a resurgent Russia in relation […] More
Russia Chooses Autarchy—and Isolation—Over Cooperation
In a provocative new essay, Vladislav Surkov, a top aide to President Vladimir Putin, says Russia is ending a centuries-long quest to join the West and preparing for “100 years (200? […] More
With Influence Activities Exposed, the Kremlin Acts Even More Boldly
Russian influence operations were thrust into the public limelight in the West in 2017 with the findings of the U.S. Intelligence Community that Russia did […] More
Preparing Markets for Russian Financial Retaliation
Financial sanctions imposed on Russia since its 2014 seizure of Crimea have hit President Vladimir Putin and his cronies where it hurts most—in the wallet. […] More
The Kremlin Is Having a Very Good Christmas. Here’s Why…
For this last week of 2017, we asked our experts to look back on key topics for this year, and predict what they see for […] More