SUBSCRIBER+ EXCLUSIVE REPORTING — When Chinese President Xi Jinping came to San Francisco last November to meet with President Joe Biden, Chinese pro-democracy activists in the U.S. turned out in force to protest Xi’s authoritarian rule. They were met by other ethnically Chinese people wielding metal rods and pepper spray – a pro-regime presence that several protesters said was orchestrated by the Chinese government. For Jinrui Zhong, a third-year law student at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, the pressure from Beijing has been more subtle. Zhong told The Cipher Brief that when Chine ..read more

SUBSCRIBER+EXCLUSIVE EXPERT PERSPECTIVE — More than two years after its withdrawal from Afghanistan, the U.S. still does not have a clear way forward in the country, which means that two decades of investment and sacrifice by the U.S. and its allies – and two decades of gains for Afghans – seems to have disappeared almost as if we’d never been there. Today, Afghans continue to suffer under a brutal regime. Millions of Afghans have been displaced, women and girls have no access to education, the country is facing humanitarian and economic crises, and instability and the potential for terrorism ..read more

SUBSCRIBER+ EXCLUSIVE REPORTING — Ukrainians greeted Saturday’s long-awaited House passage of $60.8 billion in aid with justifiable jubilation. For months, their soldiers, civilians, and political and military leaders had endured the practical, life-and-death impact of a shortage of ammunition and other essential weapons – as well as the psychological pain that came with thinking their greatest ally had abandoned them. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on his Telegram channel that the U.S. aid package “will keep the war from expanding, save thousands and thousands of lives, and hel ..read more

SUBSCRIBER+ EXCLUSIVE REPORTING — A race for control of space is underway, and just as on earth, the U.S. and China are the top competitors. ”Congested and contested” is the way Deborah Lee James, former Secretary of the Air Force, describes the current space environment, in which earthly frictions and ambitions are being projected into space, with China and the U.S. leading the way.  James and other experts told The Cipher Brief that today’s uneasy mix of economic competition and military rivalry between Washington and Beijing now stretches into the heavens.   “The Cipher Br ..read more

SUBSCRIBER+ EXCLUSIVE REPORTING — For nearly a week, the Middle East and much of the world were on a knife’s edge, waiting for a promised Israeli retaliation to the April 13 attacks carried out by Iran. When the response came early Friday, in the form of drone strikes near the Iranian cities of Isfahan and Tabriz, there was a collective sigh of relief in Washington, the capitals of Europe and in the Middle East as well.  The Israelis hit a military air base near the city of Isfahan, in central Iran, and Iranian officials said another group of drones had been shot down in the Tabriz regio ..read more

BOTTOM LINE UP FRONT – Less than one week after Iran’s attack against Israel, Israel struck Iran early on Friday, hitting a military air base near the city of Isfahan, in central Iran. Iranian officials and media reported blasts at the base caused by drone strikes, and said that another group of drones had been shot down in the Tabriz region, some 500 miles north of Isfahan. The initial reports suggested that the worst fears of the U.S. and other countries had – for now at least – not been realized. Iran said no Israeli planes had entered its airspace. Iranian news agencies made a point of no ..read more

SUBSCRIBER+EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW — While Ukraine deals with shortages of troops, munitions, and equipment for its air defenses, some Ukrainians are teaming up with foreign investors to prepare for a post-war era. And if some might question the wisdom of putting money into a country as it fights a increasingly challenging war of resistance, others believe the moment to invest is now, not only as a gesture of support for Ukraine but as a smart financial move as well. Certainly that’s the message Lenna Koszarny brought to The Cipher Brief’s Kyiv Economic and Security Forum in early April. Lenna Ko ..read more

SUBSCRIBER+EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW — While Ukraine deals with shortages of troops, munitions, and equipment for its air defenses, some Ukrainians are teaming up with foreign investors to prepare for a post-war era. And if some might question the wisdom of putting money into a country as it fights a increasingly challenging war of resistance, others believe the moment to invest is now, not only as a gesture of support for Ukraine but as a smart financial move as well. Certainly that’s the message Lenna Koszarny brought to The Cipher Brief’s recent Kyiv Economic and Security Forum. Lenna Koszarny i ..read more

SUBSCRIBER+EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW — With a mere 1.2 million citizens, Estonia is among NATO’s smallest members, but its contributions to Ukraine have led the pack by a wide margin. Estonia’s military aid to Ukraine has reached 3.6 percent of GDP; by that metric, Denmark is the second most generous donor, at 2.4 percent; the U.S., by comparison, has given the equivalent of 0.32 percent of GDP, according to the Kiel Institute’s Ukraine Support Tracker. There’s a reason for Estonia’s generosity; it was invaded by the Russian-led Soviet Union twice in the past century and ultimately won its freedom ..read more

SUBSCRIBER+EXCLUSIVE BRIEFING — Drone weapons are part of the daily narrative of the war in Ukraine – from Russia’s use of Iranian drones against infrastructure to Ukraine’s drone strikes against Russian territory and Russian vessels in the Black Sea. Beyond those headline-grabbing attacks, both sides are now using drones in nearly every military operation, and as the volume of drone strikes soars, Russia and Ukraine have invested heavily in domestic drone manufacturing to meet a soaring demand. And if Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine sparked the world’s first true drone war, other global th ..read more