The Cipher Brief made its first reporting trip to Ukraine in February of 2022.  That’s when we first met Tymofiy Mylovanov, the President of the Kyiv School of Economics. When we sat down with him then, Ukraine was preparing to mark one year since Russia’s brutal invasion. Mylovanov was sober at...

Dave Pitts was the CIA’s last man on the ground in Afghanistan as U.S. troops pulled out of the country in 2021. Even though he began his career as a humble private in the U.S. military, he quickly moved into special operations and eventually, to the CIA where he retired last October as the...

Retired Rear Admiral Mike Studeman is the former Commander of the Office of Naval Intelligence. He has extensive experience in intelligence, foreign policy, defense and China.  So, it wasn’t a surprise when Taiwan’s Vice President-Elect Hsiao – someone he had briefed along with President Tsai...