U.S. Message to Assad: The Game Has Changed
After the United States launched airstrikes against a Syrian airfield late Thursday night, The Cipher Brief reached out to Rob Richer, the former Associate Deputy […] More
Syria
U.S. Shows Allies & Opponents: We Are Willing to Use Force
U.S. President Donald Trump, in a filmed statement from his Mar-a-lago resort Thursday night – where he is currently meeting President Xi – said the […] More
Network Take: Do U.S. Airstrikes Mark Emergence of a “Trump Doctrine?”
Late on Thursday night, U.S. naval vessels stationed in the Mediterranean fired 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at the Shayrat Syrian military air base near Homs. […] More
How Syria’s Chemical Attack Could Force Shift U.S. Policy?
President Donald Trump on Wednesday said his “attitude” toward Syria and President Bashar al-Assad “has changed very much” in the wake of a deadly chemical […] More
Climate Insecurity and the Changing Balance of Power
Since at least the 1979 Iranian revolution, intelligence and national security analysts have been working hard to identify the causal factors that lead to political […] More
Why Syria’s Kurds Are America’s Key Ally
Before the civil war, few outside the Middle East had ever heard of Syria’s Kurds. Syria has by far the smallest Kurdish population of the […] More
Syrian Kurds – Forgotten No More
Syria has by far the smallest Kurdish population of any country with major Kurdish minorities. However, in the last two years, the Kurds of Syria […] More
The Battle for Raqqa – It’s Complicated
Though the battle to defeat the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in Mosul is slowly reaching its denouement, the campaign to take the […] More
Al Qaeda Takes Advantage in Syria
While the U.S. remains focused on defeating ISIS in Syria and Iraq, al Qaeda in Syria is accumulating strength at an alarming pace and may […] More
Al Qaeda in Syria Can Change Its Name, But Not Its Stripes
Following recent infighting with other Syrian rebel groups in the northwestern part of the country, al Qaeda in Syria appears to have recognized the need […] More
How Al Qaeda Exploited The Syrian Civil War
The Cipher Brief sat down with Charles Lister, Senior Fellow at the Middle East Institute, to discuss al Qaeda in Syria’s latest rebranding, how the […] More
After Nuclear Deal, Iran Looks to Profit in Syria
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iran’s powerful, ideological military force, is one of the country’s most influential institutions, with major stakes in key sectors of […] More
Objective: Raqqa
Despite its fearsome codename, Operation Wrath of Euphrates, the campaign by U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to capture Raqqa from ISIS has progressed in fits […] More
A Very Long and Nasty Fight
As Iraqi forces close in on ISIS fighters stranded in eastern Mosul – the group’s last urban bastion in Iraq – U.S.-backed Syrian rebels are […] More
No Clear Road to Raqqa
Supported by coalition weapons, airstrikes, military advisers, and now several hundred U.S. Marines, the predominantly Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have advanced to within 50 […] More
Russian Spetsnaz: Learning from Experience
As part of military reforms begun in 2008, Russia has overhauled its special purpose forces, or Spetsnaz to expand its capabilities and professionalization. It also […] More
The Cost of Rushing into Raqqa
The Trump Administration last week announced it deployed hundreds of U.S. Marines and Army Rangers to Syria to support the campaign to take Raqqa, the […] More
U.S. Credibility in the Middle East
“America has lost.” Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte used this phrase last October when announcing his split from the United States and his country’s realignment toward […] More