Opinion
The Cipher BriefOpinion

The West Needs to Prepare for a Russian Defeat in Ukraine

We are good at winning wars and generally bad at what comes after. Far from a partisan observation; this is a pattern with receipts. We removed Saddam Hussein in three weeks and then spent eight years ...
Opinion
The Cipher BriefOpinion

AI Agents Need Accountability That Travels With Them

Most enterprise AI agents today are still being deployed in controlled environments. They sit inside a platform, perform a defined task and operate under the identity and access controls of that ...
The Cipher Brief

Congress Questions Pentagon Spending—and the Future of Trump’s Battleship

I’m deeply concerned that the Presidential proposal for $350 billion mandatory funding [to be carried in a reconciliation bill and not an appropriations bill] for defense will have no Appropriations ...
The Cipher Brief

When Hackers Get AI Co-Pilots: Frontier AI and the National Security Clock

Five intelligence services rarely speak with one voice. When they warn the window of vulnerability has narrowed to months, the real question is whether the defenders can move as fast as the ...
Opinion
The Cipher BriefOpinion

The War Before the War Has Already Begun

There are 65 active state-based conflicts in the world today, according to the Uppsala Conflict Data Program. That is not 65 separate crises. It is 65 living laboratories.The contest that matters is ...
Opinion
The Cipher BriefOpinion

From Bombing Iran to Negotiating: Trump Explains His Red Line

I had to stop them [the Iranians] because if they had a nuclear weapon, they would use it. And you want to see bedlam, let them blow up a couple of cities someplace, like they would've blown up Israel ...
The Cipher Brief

What Iran Wants and How It Can Still Fight

Amid fragile talks aimed at ending the war, former National Intelligence Manager for Iran Norm Roule explains why diplomacy ...
The Cipher Brief

Cuba’s New Spy Array Raises Concerns for U.S. Security

On 18 June, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) researchers released a new study that says Cuba has completed construction of a major signals intelligence antenna array at its ...
The Cipher Brief

America's Empty CT Chair

The world's counterterrorism chiefs are meeting in New York this week. We brought a list of demands and not much else.A plot ...
The Cipher Brief

Transparency Matters: Inside Canada's UFO Files

Disclosing Government Files on What Is Happening in Our SkiesBy Chris A. Rutkowski / Dundurm PressReviewed by: Jean-Thomas NicoleThe Reviewer — Jean-Thomas Nicole is a Policy Advisor with Public ...
The Cipher Brief

The Nord Stream Sabotage: Mystery Attacks Explained

The Inside Story of the Explosions That Shook the WorldBy Bojan Pancevski/ Henry Holt and Co.Reviewed by: Jean-Thomas NicoleThe Reviewer — Jean-Thomas Nicole is a Policy Advisor with Public Safety ...
The Cipher Brief

The Space Age Needs New Rules

Space is no longer a place we visit to plant flags. It is where the global economy and national security now live — and our rulebook is nearly sixty years out of date.For half a century, space was a ...