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Cipher Brief Experts bring context to today’s global events

U.S. Support for Ukraine Would be Cheap at Twice the Price

OPINION – On a recent visit to Kyiv, we stood near midnight in an operations center surrounded by young Ukrainian drone pilots remotely flying [...] More

A Closer Look at the ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ on Defense Spending

A Closer Look at the ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ on Defense Spending

OPINION COLUMN -- “The one Big Beautiful [Reconciliation] Bill currently making its way through Congress, in combination with [fiscal 2025] base [...] More

What’s on The Cipher Brief’s Digital Channel

THE TANGLED WEB: For an excellent deep dive into the meaning and mechanics of Ukraine’s stunning deep strike into Russia that destroyed or damaged more than two score long range bombers – look no further than The Cipher Brief’s reporting right here. If you want to know more about how the “Spider Web” drone attack was perceived inside Russia – we recommend Russian Media Monitor Julia Davis’ clip of Putin pal talking heads Vladimir Solovyov and Margarita Simonyan kvetching on State TV. They grimly called the attack “a tragedy,” veered to praising Tucker Carlson for having recently praised Putin and promised that those [...] More

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Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022,Ukrainians have used every resource available to fight back. From aid packages and weapons systems acquired from western allies to mobilizing every sector of society to bring innovation to the fight, Ukraine has stayed alive largely because of its adaptations of technology and its ingenuity on the battlefield. As part of a special delegation that visited Kyiv last month – led by former CIA Director General David Petraeus, The Cipher Brief met senior Chief Warrant Officer Joey Gagnard, who retired from the U.S. Special Operations Community earlier this year. As part of that delegation, Gagnard’s unique take on where Ukraine is today when it comes to its use and development of war technologies like unmanned systems – provided some ground truth about where it may be headed.

Cover Stories: Spies, Books & Entertainment

Former CIA Officer Rodney Faraon served in some pretty fascinating roles at CIA – including as a daily briefer to former director George Tenet and as Chief of the unit that dealt with Chinese and Taiwanese relations. Since retiring, he’s kept his analytic hat on as a Partner at Crumpton Global but he also took a turn toward Hollywood and did what many who have come from the Agency – have yet to do – launch a show for television. In this episode of the Cover Stories podcast, Rodney spills the secrets on how he adopted his CIA skills to help him survive in Hollywood.