Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

cipherbrief

Welcome! Log in to stay connected and make the most of your experience.

Input clean

Xi Jinping

Inside Xi Jinping’s Military Purge: Loyalty, Power, and Taiwan

OPINION — Last week’s Fourth Plenum of the Chinese Communist Party witnessed a purge of China’s senior military leaders, culminating in over two [...] More

The Latest

China and Russia: True Partnership or an Alliance on Borrowed Time?

OPINION — Russia was once a proud supplier of weapons to a growing China. However, over the past few years that paradigm has shifted and that [...] More

Guanxi-Warfare: How the U.S. Can Exploit China’s Disposable Alliances

OPINION — China’s reaction to the U.S. strikes on Iran’s nuclear capabilities confirms Beijing’s view of Iran as an expendable appendage of its [...] More

To Counter Xi, President Trump Needs a New ‘Holy Alliance’

OPINION — On the sidelines of the recent ASEAN conference in Malaysia, Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with his Chinese counterpart, Foreign [...] More

China Can Do More to Improve Relations with the U.S.

OPINION — Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with his Chinese counterpart, Foreign Minister Wang Yi, at the ASEAN Summit. Rubio described the [...] More

The China Challenge – Some Fresh, Some Familiar Insights

BOOK REVIEW: LESSONS FROM THE NEW COLD WAR: AMERICA CONFRONTS THE CHINA CHALLENGEBy Hal Brands (Editor) /Johns Hopkins University PressReviewed by: [...] More

The Rampant Leadership Corruption Plaguing China and Russia

OPINION — In March 2025 the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) published an unclassified report on “Wealth and Corrupt Activities [...] More

An Engaging Look at U.S. – China Relations

BOOK REVIEW: Breaking the Engagement: How China Won and Lost AmericaBy David Shambaugh / Oxford University PressReviewed by: Paul HeerThe Reviewer — [...] More

China Charts Future - With Eye on Trump 2.0

China Charts Future - With Eye on Trump 2.0

EXPERT INTERVIEW – For the past week, China has been holding annual government meetings known as the “Two Sessions,” which bring more than 5,000 [...] More

China’s Preparations for a ‘Major-Power War’

EXPERT INTERVIEW – A report from China about a massive new military command center – a complex that, when completed, is expected to be 10 times the [...] More

The Case for Peace Through Strength – and Diplomacy 

OPINION — In his inaugural address, President Donald Trump said: "Our success will be measured not only by the battles we win, but also by the wars [...] More

The Underlying Message from Putin and Xi: War is Coming

The Underlying Message from Putin and Xi: War is Coming

EXPERT PERSPECTIVE — Some thirty years ago, when I was a CIA Chief of Station in the war-torn Balkans, a US Special Operations soldier with whom I [...] More

Warning Signs of a More Dangerous Global Conflict

Warning Signs of a More Dangerous Global Conflict

BOTTOM LINE UP FRONT — If President Joe Biden’s recent remarks in Poland and President Vladimir Putin’s in Moscow just a day later are any indication [...] More