Terrorist Spillover
On June 6, five Jordanians were killed during an assault on a General Intelligence complex twelve miles north of Amman. The incident was Jordan’s largest […] More
Terrorism
Euro 2016: An Attractive Target for Terrorists
There are heightened security concerns in France, as the Euro 2016 football tournament begins today at multiple sites throughout the country. France is particularly on […] More
U.S. Military Aid to Egypt Continues Despite Democratic Struggle
Islamic militant group Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (also known as ISIS or ISIL) in November 2014, after a deadly attack […] More
Failure to Vet 100%
The U.S. government has continued providing military support to Egypt despite the 2013 military coup that overthrew then-president Mohamed Morsi. Moreover, the U.S. State Department […] More
Differences and Distrust
The U.S. and Egypt remain allies although relations have been strained since the 2011 Egyptian revolution, which resulted in the ousting of then-President Hosni Mubarak. […] More
Eye on ISIS in Libya: The Anti-ISIS Coalition Update
Three interlinked conflict dynamics are discernible from last week’s developments on the ground: 1) increased lawlessness and militia rivalry in Tripoli and the western region; […] More
Doha Security Forum: Promoting Stability and Prosperity in the World
World leaders met in Qatar over the weekend for the 16th annual Doha Forum on security. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon attended, as well as […] More
Flying the Unfriendly Skies: Airline Security
On Thursday, May 19, EgyptAir flight 804 crashed over the Mediterranean Sea, killing all 66 people aboard. Although terrorism is on the list of possible […] More
An Evolving Challenge
Today, commercial aviation is growing at a rapid rate. Unfortunately, commercial aviation is also the primary target of several terrorist groups and other malicious actors […] More
Areas of Vulnerability
Commercial aviation is an industry in which safety and security are paramount. However, as with other critical infrastructure, consumer demand has brought the systems that […] More
The Hydra and the Snake: The Death of Osama Bin Laden
At 11:00 AM, five years ago Monday, sailors on the USS Carl Vinson watched the shrouded body of Osama bin Laden slide into the North […] More
Is the World Safer?
Five years ago, U.S. special operations forces killed Osama bin Laden in a raid on his hiding place in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Although al Qaeda had […] More
The Efficacy of Leadership Decapitation
The Pentagon announced Friday that U.S. forces have killed Abu Sayed, the leader of ISIS-Khorasan – ISIS’ affiliate in Afghanistan – in a drone strike […] More
Increasingly Vulnerable
In 2012, the European Parliament commissioned and published a study entitled: “Europe’s Crime-Terror Nexus: Links between terrorist and organised crime groups in the European Union.” […] More
The Blurred Line
Terrorism and crime have always been closely linked and the dividing line between them blurred. For terrorist groups, criminality can be an end in itself. […] More
An Emerging Crime-Terror Nexus in Europe
An emerging nexus between terror and crime in Europe needs to be addressed with an even stronger nexus between law enforcement, the intelligence community, and […] More
A Pivotal Meeting Between the U.S. and the Gulf States
The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit on Thursday comes at a pivotal time as conflicts roil the region, and the United States faces an increasingly […] More
A Real Force To Be Reckoned With
As the Taliban causes havoc on the battlefield and with terrorist attacks, The Cipher Brief asked Daniel Markey, a former State Department official and senior […] More