How Trump 2.0 May Deal With Global Flashpoints
DEEP DIVE – As Donald Trump prepares to return to the White House, the U.S. faces an unusually broad set of global security challenges: wars […] More
Ukraine
Avoiding Strategic Surprise will be key in the next Administration
EXPERT Q&A – The Cipher Brief tapped Dave Pitts, former Assistant Director of CIA for South and Central Asia and range of other experts with […] More
Advice for Trump 2.0: Cipher Brief Experts Weigh In
EXPERT PERSPECTIVES — In the hours after Donald Trump was declared the winner of the 2024 presidential election, we turned to our network of experts for […] More
Decoding Global Reactions to Trump’s Victory
DEEP DIVE — It was, as Axios reporter Zachary Basu put it, “the most astonishing, gravity-defying comeback in the history of American politics.” But Donald Trump’s […] More
Global Challenges for 47th President: Two Major Wars, and Avoiding Conflict With China
EXPERT OPINION — As Americans vote, and an anxious nation awaits the results, we turned to a member of our expert network with extensive global […] More
Ukraine is Facing a Brutal Winter and a New U.S. President
DEEP DIVE — As battlefield setbacks mount, not even the weather is cooperating with Ukraine, which is forecast to have a colder-than-normal winter – its third […] More
Why our Presidential Candidates Must Choose Ukraine
OPINION — As the days wind down to what will arguably be the most consequential election in the first half of the 21st Century, there […] More
Ex-Ukraine Defense Minister: Russia ‘Trying to Grow the War’ with North Korean Troops
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW — The Pentagon said Monday that North Korea has sent some 10,000 troops to Russia to train and deploy to the battlefield in Ukraine […] More
Are Putin’s ‘Red Lines’ Real Threats or Hollow Bluffs?
DEEP DIVE — Does Vladimir Putin have actual “red lines” for the West when it comes to the war in Ukraine? And if so, what will […] More
North Korean Deployment Sparks Fears of Escalation – Even ‘World War’ – in Ukraine
DEEP DIVE — North Korea’s deployment of thousands of troops to Russia – presumably for use in the war against Ukraine – has stunned policymakers and […] More
Putin is Offering the West a Choice between War and Dishonor
OPINION – Russian President Vladimir Putin has started the largest conflict on the European continent since World War II. He is the architect and driving […] More
Whatever Happened to Russia’s Wagner Group?
DEEP DIVE — More than a year after the death of Yevgeny Prigozhin, the infamous leader of the shadowy Russian mercenary outfit known as the Wagner […] More
A Victory Strategy for Ukraine: Disrupt Russia’s Artillery Supply Chain
OPINION — “Russia’s industrial might can and should be disrupted with a focused effort on the artillery supply chain. Doing so will save Ukrainian lives, degrade […] More
Why the West Keeps Misreading Russia – and Why That’s Dangerous
OPINION — As the U.S. continues to respond to Russia’s war against Ukraine, there is an ongoing assumption that dominates DC policy debates regarding Russia: that […] More
The Axis of Authoritarians – and A Dangerous World
OPINION — The October 1 debate between Senators Tim Walz and JD Vance dealt with just one foreign policy question: the widening war in the Middle […] More
What Analysts Missed Before Russia’s Invasion – and What They’re Still Missing
EXPERT OPINION — A recent report from Washington’s Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) is getting attention for calling out the failure of the […] More
Amid Russian Advance, a Problem For Ukraine: Not Enough Fighters
DEEP DIVE — While Ukraine presses for more military support from the West and fewer restrictions on the use of NATO weapons, the country’s shortage of […] More
CIA Director: ‘Very Real Danger’ of Wider Mideast War
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW – CIA Director William Burns warned Monday of “the very real danger” of a wider war in the Middle East, and urged Israel […] More