A Former CIA Leader on Debates – and What Matters
OPINION — As President Biden and former President Trump prepare to face off in the first of their 2024 presidential debates, The Cipher Brief polled […] More
Biden
The Debate: What Cipher Brief Experts Want To Hear from Biden and Trump
SUBSCRIBER+ EXCLUSIVE — As the first 2024 US presidential debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump approaches (a debate that may prove […] More
What Will the U.S. do if Israel Crosses “Red Line” in Gaza?
SUBSCRIBER+ EXCLUSIVE REPORTING –As President Joe Biden and other world leaders grow increasingly frustrated with the bloody stalemate in Gaza—no release of hostages, no end […] More
What Success Looks Like for Now in Ukraine
OPINION — Will past weeks of multi-national propaganda focused on military activity along the Ukraine/Russia border lead to a major conflict? Or is all this […] More
The Latest
The Talk Between Russia and the U.S.
OPINION — Military exercises and psychological warfare operations have been underway for months along the tense Russia-Ukraine and Poland-Belarus borders and care needs to be […] More
Is the US Creating Opportunity for China in Afghanistan?
Pulitzer Prize Winning Journalist Walter Pincus is a contributing senior national security columnist at The Cipher Brief. He spent forty years at The Washington Post, writing on […] More
After Geneva: US – Russia Strategy Moving Forward
Robert Dannenberg, Fmr. Sr. CIA Officer, Former Chief of Security, Goldman Sachs “The Cipher Brief has become the most popular outlet for former intelligence officers; […] More
Where Biden Stands on Nuclear Weapons
Pulitzer Prize Winning Journalist Walter Pincus is a contributing senior national security columnist for The Cipher Brief. He spent forty years at The Washington Post, writing […] More
When it comes to Cyberattacks, Can we really just talk it out?
Walter Pincus is a contributing senior national security columnist for The Cipher Brief. He spent forty years at The Washington Post, writing on topics from nuclear […] More
The U.S. Position on South Korean Missiles Just Got Interesting
Walter Pincus is a contributing senior national security columnist for The Cipher Brief. He spent forty years at The Washington Post, writing on topics from nuclear […] More
How the Middle East Conflict Leads Back to US National Security
In the Biden Administration’s highest-level face-to-face visit, Secretary of State Antony Blinken is traveling to the Middle East to seize momentum created by last week’s […] More
Afghanistan: How Six Good Reasons Can Still Lead to a Bad Decision
Cipher Brief Expert Tim Willasey-Wilsey served for over 27 years in the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office where his focus was on South Asia and […] More
On Nuclear: Iran and North Korea are a Package Deal
Cipher Brief Expert John E. McLaughlin served as Acting Director of Central Intelligence from July to September 2004 and as Deputy Director of Central Intelligence […] More
Afghanistan’s Great Gap
OPINION — The Biden administration is reviewing not just the February 2020, Trump administration agreement with the Taliban that calls for all U.S. forces to […] More
The US’ Dangerous Dilemma in Afghanistan
Cipher Brief Expert Tim Willasey-Wilsey is a visiting Professor of War Studies at King’s College, London and a former senior British diplomat. The views expressed […] More
Biden’s Big Iran Challenge
Cipher Brief Expert John E. McLaughlin is the Distinguished Practitioner in Residence at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). He served as […] More
General Austin’s New Mission Begins
Walter Pincus is a contributing senior national security columnist for The Cipher Brief. He spent forty years at The Washington Post, writing on topics from […] More
Biden’s National Security Test
Cipher Brief Expert John McLaughlin is former Acting Director of the CIA, former Deputy CIA Director and is the Distinguished Practitioner in Residence at the […] More
Biden’s Nuclear Challenges
OPINION — President-elect Joe Biden’s campaign slogan, “Diplomacy is back,” will get an instant test after January 20, when his incoming team has just 16 […] More