SOF’s Evolving Role: Warfare “By, With, and Through” Local Forces
The role of U.S. special operations forces (SOF) in the Middle East has expanded steadily since the inception of the counter-ISIS campaign in 2014. In […] More
United States
America First Requires America to Lead
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told the State Department staff last week that our policy must ensure American security and economic interests first but also reflect […] More
American Power in the Age of Trump
The administration of President Donald Trump has thrown key tenets of U.S foreign policy into question. After campaigning on a platform that skewered global free […] More
Trump’s North Korea Strategy Remains Unclear
As North Korea’s provocations increase, questions have been raised about whether the Trump Administration’s responses have made matters worse and if there really is a […] More
Trump Needs More Than 100 Days on Syria
When Yitzhak Rabin met with President Gerald Ford on his first visit to Washington as Israel’s Prime Minister in 1974, he sought to cash in […] More
Trump 100 Days: From the Travel Ban to TPP
It might be a “ridiculous standard,” as President Donald Trump put it, but presidents are measured by their first 100 days in office. In fact, […] More
100 Days of Trump Foreign Policy: Chaos to Moderation
The apparent shift by the Trump Administration towards more traditional foreign policy has been welcomed by many inside, and more outside, of the U.S., as […] More
Trump and Russia: No Clear Policy
As we approach President Donald Trump’s first 100 days in the White House, it remains difficult to discern U.S. policy toward Russia. The Administration has […] More
Network Take: What did Trump Nail or Fail in 100 Days?
As the Trump Administration marks 100 days in office, there have been shuffles in the National Security Council, a strike in Syria, tough talk on […] More
Rebranding Countering Violent Extremism Programs: A Sharper Focus or Missing the Point?
U.S. counterterrorism efforts have achieved their fair share of successes – killing terrorist leaders with drone strikes and commando raids, keeping terrorist cells on the […] More
Flournoy to Trump Team: Keep Your Eye on the Ball
When President Barack Obama nominated Michele Flournoy to be Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, she became the highest-ranking woman in the Pentagon’s history. She […] More
U.S. Policy to Counter Violent Extremism is Incoherent
The Cipher Brief’s Bennett Seftel spoke with Michael Leiter, former Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, about U.S. government efforts to counter violent extremism. Leiter […] More
Don’t Ignore Home-Grown Hate Groups
In February, reports emerged that the administration of President Donald Trump was considering rebranding the Obama-era Countering Violent Extremism program to “Countering Radical Islamic Extremism.” […] More
The Link Between White Supremacists and Islamic Terrorism
The process of radicalization, by which disaffected members of society are convinced to embrace violent means to pursue the goals of a terrorist ideology, has […] More
No Single Path Towards Radicalization
The Cipher Brief’s Bennett Seftel sat down with Charlie Allen, former Under Secretary for Security and Analysis at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, to […] More
Making Iraq Great Again
It is probably not a bad thing that U.S. President Donald Trump recently dispatched Jared Kusher, his son-in-law and his Administration’s jack-of-all-issues, to Iraq. As […] More
Stepping into the Void of Trump’s Global Retreat
The presidency of Donald Trump has had a rocky start, punctuated by embarrassing personnel shakeups, sloppy messaging, and major policy changes. However, the administration has […] More
Market Forces, Not Rhetoric, Will Drive Globalization
The United States has been the standard-bearer for free trade, multilateralism, and globalization since the end of World War II. However, as the Trump administration […] More