America’s Culture Wars Are Rippling Through The Armed Forces
OPINION — As Congress moves the fiscal 2024 Defense Department authorization and appropriation bills forward with more money to help needed recruitment, a handful of […] More
The Cipher Brief
Prigozhin’s Revolt is not the End for Putin, but it’s the Beginning of the End
OPINION — Wagner Group leader Yevgeniy Prigozhin’s march on Moscow did not topple Russian President Vladimir Putin, but the revolt put forces in motion that […] More
China’s Ukraine Gambit – ‘Win-win’ or ‘Lose-lose?’
OPINION — The recent London Ukraine Recovery conference has highlighted the necessity and importance of looking past the war, Ukraine’s currently stalled counter-offensive, and a […] More
Prigozhin’s Mutiny: A Reminder About Analytic Humility
OPINION — It appears that the U.S. Intelligence Community scored a success in warning senior leaders that Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin was planning some sort of […] More
The Latest
Putin Faces His Most Serious Threat to Power, Even as Wagner Chief Halts March on Moscow
CIPHER BRIEF REPORTING — In a brief address to the nation, Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed not to “allow a civil war,” evoking the Russian […] More
The US May Not Be Looking For a Fight with China, But It’s Preparing For One
OPINION — “We’re engaged in an intense competition with China across many areas, but it’s not in our interest for that competition to end in […] More
Putin’s Days May Be Numbered, but China’s the Bigger Threat, says Ex-CIA Chief
CIPHER BRIEF REPORTING — Someone other than Vladimir Putin will likely be running Russia in as little as three years, says former CIA Director and […] More
Justice by Hellfire: The Killing of Ayman al-Zawahiri
It’s possible that the terrorist leader, wanted for his role in plotting the 9/11 attacks and later becoming the head of al Qaeda after the […] More
The Unraveling of Russian Spies
OPINION — Last Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated the illegal intelligence department [Division S] of his Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) on its 100th anniversary in […] More
Resilience, National Security and the Immediate Need for Action
EXPERT PERSPECTIVE — Resilience is a word we hear a lot, but what does it mean and why should we care? And how do we […] More
Australia Must End its Pacific Stupor Before it’s too late
Australia’s neglect has allowed China to expand its grand strategy of global base-building into the Pacific. It is not too late for us to shore […] More
A breakdown of the Good, the Bad and the Ugly from Russia’s War in Ukraine
Behind the uplifting scenes of Ukrainian resistance, there are some troubling questions as Putin’s war of aggression continues to get increasingly brutal. (Ed Note: A […] More
Former CIA Officer Alex Finley and her Oligarch Yachts
AUTHOR INTERVIEW — When The Cipher Brief last crossed paths with author Alex Finley, we delved into the exploits of Victor Caro, the central character […] More
What You Need to Know about U.S. Nuclear Weapons in Wartime
OPINION — The Biden administration has made rational decisions on nuclear weapons in both policy – through the soon-to-be-release 2022 Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) – […] More
The Facts that Putin Cannot Change
EXPERT PERSPECTIVE — As we used to say in government, it could be worse. A single death or wounding, a single destroyed hospital, school or […] More
A Picture of Putin’s Nuclear Option
OPINION — Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has repeatedly threatened the use of his nuclear weapons and now has placed his nuclear deterrence forces on […] More
NATO and Putin’s Bad Assumptions
A former NATO Supreme Allied Commander takes aim at the Russian President’s less-than-perfect assumptions about invading Ukraine and the opportunity presented for NATO The Cipher […] More
‘Watch’ or ‘Stand Against’ the Digital Machinery of Aggression in Ukraine
OPINION — The machinery of aggression moves across the land of the people of Ukraine to their capital. There should be no words to argue […] More
Intelligence Isn’t Just for Commanders Anymore
EXPERT PERSPECTIVE — Intelligence is for commanders, or at least so I’ve been told. Regardless of the term you prefer—commander, principal, or policymaker—the idea expressed […] More