Last month, Trump replaced the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) with the lightly-qualified Stephen Grenell, former ambassodr to Germany. Grenell proceeded to fire the head of the DNI’s counterterrorism center. This prompted some wailing from the national security establishment and predictable praise for Loras Shiao, the career official whom Grennell chose to replace Travers. Top...
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Counterterrorism: A Woman’s Game
From The Interpreter, an Australian blog about international politics. two recently published books on counterterrorism, intelligence, and national security fly in the face of the notion that counterterrorism and national security is a man’s game and show that when it comes to gender and counterterrorism, there is much more than meets the eye. The first...
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The Coronavirus Truce: Guns Falling Silent Across the Middle East
From Yossi Melman, well-informed intelligence reporter at the Haaretz, the Israeli news site. The coronavirus emergency has forced Israel’s intelligence community – Shin Bet, Mossad and military intelligence (Aman) – to adapt themselves to the new reality. Thanks to travel bans and restrictions on face-to-face meetings, their collection methods have to be modified. They must...
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Trump Closed the White House Pandemic Office in 2018
Nothing demonstrates the failure of U.S. national security policymaking in the Trump era more than the president’s decision to downgrade the White House’s National Security Council Directorate for Global Health Security and Biodefense less than two years ago. Trump and National Security adviser John Bolton had a conception of “national security” that downplayed the well-known...
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Trump’s ODNI Shell Game: Keep a Loyalist in Top Intelligence Position
President Trump’s campaign to gain control of the U.S. intelligence community took a new old turn over the weekend. Trump nominated Texas congressman John Ratcliffe to serve as Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Last month, he named Richard Grenell, currently U.S. ambassador to Germany as acting DNI. Neither man has any intelligence experience. Grenell isolated...