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Terrorism

A Fragile Truce at the Durand Line: Will the Afghanistan–Pakistan Ceasefire Last?

A Fragile Truce at the Durand Line: Will the Afghanistan–Pakistan Ceasefire Last?

OPINION — One of the most enduring security issues in South Asia has been rekindled by the recent border conflicts between the Taliban-led [...] More

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The Case for Caution in the U.S.-Pakistan Relationship

OPINION — During the ten-year Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, the United States leveraged Pakistan’s geostrategic position to support the Afghan [...] More

Talks, Deception, and Terror: The Taliban Subsumed Under Al Qaeda’s Strategic Umbrella

OPINION — There has been an argument suggesting that the international community—particularly the United States—should engage with the Taliban to [...] More

Expert Q&A: The Major African Terror Group You’ve Probably Never Heard Of

EXPERT Q&A — The major news headlines of the day often focus on Ukraine, the Middle East and China, rarely mentioning Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam [...] More

Experts Warn of Insurgents' Paradise in West Africa

Experts Warn of Insurgents' Paradise in West Africa

CIPHER BRIEF REPORTING– A terrorist group with links to Al Qaeda now controls a swath of territory five times the size of Texas, threatens the [...] More

Iran is a Terrorist State

OPINION — Since 1984, Iran has been designated a state sponsor of terrorism. The designation is justified, given Iran’s continued support of proxies [...] More

Why Al Qaeda Refuses to Die

Why Al Qaeda Refuses to Die

DEEP DIVE — More than two decades after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Al Qaeda is not only alive — it has adapted, expanded, and quietly embedded [...] More

The World of Threats – According to the Defense Intelligence Agency 

OPINION - “[Russian President Vladimir] Putin almost certainly is committed to victory in Ukraine, and his objectives remain mostly unchanged since [...] More

What Hamas’ Attacks – and Aristotle – Can Teach Today’s Intelligence Chiefs

OPINION - The Hamas surprise attack against Israel on October 7th, 2023, made clear that traditional challenges for intelligence, most importantly [...] More

On the Brink of Another India-Pakistan War

OPINION — The killing of 26 Indian tourists at Pahalgam in Indian Administered Kashmir (IAK) is the first major terrorist incident in Kashmir since [...] More

Can India and Pakistan be Brought Back from the Brink of War?

Can India and Pakistan be Brought Back from the Brink of War?

EXPERT INTERVIEW – One week after a deadly terror attack, India and Pakistan stand at the precipice of military conflict, and as one scholar and [...] More

Intel Chiefs Detail Top Threats – and Get a Grilling Over Signal Leak

Intel Chiefs Detail Top Threats – and Get a Grilling Over Signal Leak

SPECIAL REPORT – The U.S. Intelligence Community’s (IC) annual assessment of threats facing the U.S. puts narcotics trafficking at the top of the [...] More

The National Security Impact of Shutting Down USAID

OPINION — The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has long served as a critical instrument of American soft power, delivering [...] More