State Secrets

The Cipher Brief

The Cipher Brief Podcast

  • 33 minutes 48 seconds
    Why We’re Still at War with Russia

    Despite efforts by U.S. President Donald Trump to warm U.S. relations with Moscow amid negotiations for Russia to end its war in Ukraine, Russian sabotage operations, active measures and Gray Zone activities are continuing around the world. Moscow has mastered the art of engaging in operations that push right up to the edge of war, without really crossing that that line, or have they?  The Cipher Brief talks with former Senior Member of the British Foreign Office Nick Fishwick and former senior CIA Executive Dave Pitts – who spent the bulk of his time at the Agency working in clandestine operations – about this new reality – that what we are seeing is really “war by a new name”.

    26 March 2025, 12:28 pm
  • 49 minutes 8 seconds
    National Security Hollywood Style

    When Walter Parkes co-wrote the movie War Games in 1983, he had no idea what he had launched.  The movie about a teen hacker played by Matthew Broderick examined what might happen if someone breached the security systems around U.S. nuclear weapons.  As it turned out, then-President Ronald Reagan saw the movie and asked the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the time whether it was possible.  After an investigation, the answer came back, “Sir, it’s actually worse than you think.” Eighteen months later, the president signed a directive that would lead to an overhaul of cybersecurity in the U.S. Government.  As The Cipher Brief honors Parkes with this year’s Impact Through Storytelling Award at The Cipher Brief HONORS Dinner, we sat down with him to talk about the very real power of storytelling.

    24 March 2025, 1:23 pm
  • 19 minutes 57 seconds
    China Keeps Breaking Barriers on Artificial Intelligence

    In this conversation, former Senior CIA Execuvite Chip Usher discusses the recent advancements made by the Chinese AI lab DeepSeq, particularly its new AI models that rival those of American companies like OpenAI. Usher, now the Senior Director for Intelligence at the Special Competitive Studies Project, explains the significance of these developments in the context of US-China competition in technology and innovation, emphasizing the need for the US intelligence community to enhance its focus on techno-economic intelligence to avoid being caught off guard by such breakthroughs. Usher also highlights the implications of DeepSeq's model for cybersecurity and the potential risks posed by hostile actors gaining access to advanced AI capabilities.

     

    13 March 2025, 3:33 pm
  • 30 minutes 53 seconds
    Former DEA Official Explains the New Terrorist Designation for Cartels

    In this conversation, Mike Vigil discusses the recent designation of Mexican cartels as terrorist organizations by the U.S. government, a move he says is largely symbolic with little real impact on the cartels' operations. He highlights the complexities of U.S.-Mexico relations, the ongoing fentanyl crisis, and the risks of military escalation. Vigil also offers advice for U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on addressing drug trafficking in Central America, stressing the importance of creating alliances and addressing the broader issues of drug production and trafficking.

    30 January 2025, 4:17 am
  • 25 minutes 50 seconds
    The Seismic Impact of Artificial Intelligence

    Few people have the perspective that Lt. Gen Mike Groen (ret.) has when it comes to Artificial Intelligence and the impact it has and will have in the national security space.  Before retiring from the military, Lt. General Groen served as Director of the Pentagon’s Joint Artificial Intelligence Center.  Today, he’s ringing the alarm about AI.  The military is already adapting AI, so how does he think we need to be understanding it today?

    21 January 2025, 9:00 am
  • 39 minutes 47 seconds
    Target: Start Up: How Entrepreneurs in Tech are Targeted for Espionage

    Michael Casey is Director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, the part of the Director of National Intelligence that leads and supports the counterintelligence and security activities of the U.S. Government. NCSC produces the National Counterintelligence Strategy of the United States and includes the National Insider Threat Task Force. NCSC also plays a critical role in conducting outreach to the private sector on foreign intelligence threats: how to recognize them and how to mitigate them. I spoke with him recently from NCSC headquarters in McLean, Virginia about the risks that spies are posing to their enterprises and to future U.S. national security.

    6 January 2025, 9:00 am
  • 31 minutes 31 seconds
    Giving Back to the Intelligence and Military Communities

    The Cipher Brief has been honored to support a number of non-profit organizations over the years that have made giving back their mission – especially in the national security world. In this episode of State Secrets, we’re welcoming David Kramer, a self-described ‘regular guy who wanted to give back’ and Jeremy Morton, a former special operations operator who has done some pretty impressive stuff during his time in the military – to talk about how they’re giving back via a non-profit called SOC-F.

    17 December 2024, 9:00 am
  • 32 minutes 53 seconds
    Former Trump Ambassador on Why Ukraine ‘Must’ Win

    Cipher Brief Expert and former Senior CIA Officer Glenn Corn is asking the questions of former Governor James Gilmore as this week’s guest host. Gilmore served as Ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe under the first Trump Administration and says it’s critical that Ukraine wins this war.

    11 December 2024, 2:41 pm
  • 39 minutes 36 seconds
    The Case for Overhauling the Department of Defense

    The Hon. Gilman Louie has had quite the career in national security, one that – despite his family’s background of service – he wasn’t exactly planning on. Now the co-founder and managing partner of America’s Frontier Fund, a phone call early in his career set him on a path that would lead to a 30+ year career “in the business” as they say. Louie’s focus on investing in future U.S. national security from the private sector side is a fascinating story.  And his views on the technology race with China are both informed and concerning.  He is one of the few people with a Silicon Valley mindset, who understands the inner workings of Washington D.C.  So why is he so worried about America’s ability to protect itself?

    5 December 2024, 9:00 am
  • 26 minutes 44 seconds
    On a Collision Course with China

    Beijing is building its largest military since the 1930s and Matt Pottinger and his colleagues at Stanford are deeply concerned. First as a former journalist, and then as former Deputy National Security Advisor in the first Trump Administration, Pottinger has been watching what Chinese President Xi Jinping both says and does - for decades. He explains to The Cipher Brief’s State Secrets Podcast host Suzanne Kelly why those two things are making it very clear that China is on a collision course with the U.S.

    21 November 2024, 2:31 am
  • 37 minutes 22 seconds
    Yes, We’re in a National Security Crisis

    Silicon Valley Entrepreneur and author Steve Blank thinks way outside the Washington DC beltway.  The Stanford Professor who teaches courses on lean start-ups, innovation and the art of entrepreneurship – also blogs regularly. It may not be a state secrets that one of his blogs published earlier this year about why large organizations struggle with disruption – and what to do about it – was a not-so-veiled reference to the pentagon. State Secrets host Suzanne Kelly sits down with Blank to talk about it.

    8 November 2024, 1:00 pm
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