This week, The Cipher Brief looks back at five groundbreakers in the national security space. Each in his/her own right has blazed a trail for others to follow — in policy, spycraft, and law enforcement. From Pentagon pioneer Michele Flournoy to Steve Murphy, who co-led the demise of Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar, take 15 Minutes to hear from some of the leaders and change-makers in national security and intelligence. To listen to the full podcasts with each of these trailblazers, search The Cipher Brief podcasts.
How important are the Balkans to U.S. national security? The region remains volatile, with ethnic and socioeconomic tensions rising, and increased Russian meddling in internal affairs. So, this week, The Cipher Brief's Kaitlin Lavinder spends 15 Minutes with Senator John McCain (R-AZ), Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, who recently returned from a trip to the Balkans. He also voted in March for the state of Montenegro to become NATO's newest member. Here, he tells Kaitlin what he thinks Montenegro will bring to the table.
What is the most stable country in the world? Which is the most fragile? What determines those qualities? This week, The Cipher Brief’s Leone Lakhani spends 15 Minutes with JJ Messner, Executive Director of The Fund for Peace, which projects the annual Fragile States Index. Judged on 12 indicators – based on social, economic and political factors – the index ranks 178 countries from the most fragile, to the least. So, which countries ranked the highest in 2017? And why does it matter?
In a world of evolving threats, how can the United States innovate to stay ahead in the national security space? That’s a question The Cipher Brief's CEO Suzanne Kelly puts to Milo Medin, a member of the Defense Innovation Board, an initiative set up by former Defense Secretary Ash Carter in 2016. Milo, who is also Google’s Vice President of Access Services, speaks to Suzanne about potential solutions, on the sidelines of Georgetown University’s “Hacking 4 Defense” innovation panel.