Daniel N. Hoffman

Don’t be fooled — Putin is losing and Ukraine deserves our support

It's worth reminding ourselves that just two years ago, the U.S. and its NATO allies expected Kyiv to fall in a matter of days after Russia launched its brutal invasion.

March 7, 2024

Iran has nothing to fear, everything to gain from low-level proxy war

Last week, Iran marked the 45th anniversary of the end of its 1979 Islamic Revolution with a massive military parade, while crowds burned U.S. and Israeli flags and shouted retread slogans.

February 22, 2024

CIA recruitment videos target Russians put off by Putin’s follies

Having served in the KGB and as director of Russia's Federal Security Service, Russian President Vladimir Putin naturally turns to cloak-and-dagger espionage to take the fight to his adversaries, foreign and domestic.

February 8, 2024

For the U.S., going it alone is not an option

After spilling so much blood and treasure in the "forever wars" of Afghanistan and Iraq, many Americans want to avoid becoming entangled in world affairs. But just as in the 1920s and 1930s, storm clouds have gathered.

January 25, 2024

Threat alert for U.S. is again ‘blinking red’ in Gaza

Iran's proxy terrorists in Iraq and Syria, such as Lebanon's Hezbollah and Yemen's Houthis, represent a real and present danger to the U.S., the region and the global economy.

January 11, 2024

Better intelligence needed to keep a world in crisis from getting worse

At their recent meeting in San Francisco, Chinese President Xi Jinping reportedly told President Biden that China would one day reunify Taiwan with mainland China.

December 28, 2023

What the CIA can teach us about caring for one another

A few years back, when I was serving as station chief in a South Asian war zone, my CIA colleague Sean visited our town house late one evening to drop off a present for my older son, who was celebrating his fifth birthday.

December 14, 2023

Mideast war shines a spotlight on TikTok’s dangers

Over the past few weeks, the social media site TikTok has spread a plethora of disinformation and propaganda, including misleading posts about the war between Israel and Hamas.

November 30, 2023

U.S. must be prepared to defeat Putin’s axis of tyranny

The great Prussian general and military strategist Carl von Clausewitz once described war as "the realm of uncertainty" where "chance makes everything more uncertain and interferes with the course of events."

November 16, 2023

Tying shoes, shaping lives: Honoring an uncle and a Marine

Years ago, when my sons were both in elementary school, they knew my brother-in-law Paul as a kindhearted and patient uncle, one who made them tasty pancakes while their mother was in the hospital for cancer treatment.

November 9, 2023

Learning from the Arab Spring to defeat Iran today

Back in 2010, when I was serving as deputy chief of the CIA's Near East Division, the Arab Spring engulfed the Middle East, bringing with it levels of popular unrest not seen since the fall of the Ottoman Empire.

November 2, 2023

When a busy man makes time to support the noble cause of fighting cancer

It was a small gesture that spoke volumes. A couple of weeks ago, CIA Director William Burns was among those attending the annual Prevent Cancer Foundation gala at Washington's National Building Museum.

October 19, 2023

After Hamas shock attack, good intel more vital than ever for Israel, U.S.

Israel is reeling from Hamas' unprecedented combined air, land and sea attack, in which hundreds of Hamas terrorists infiltrated as much as 15 miles into southern Israel across Gaza's 37-mile border.

October 10, 2023

Lethal, centrally controlled autocracy like China cannot be trusted

Chinese President Xi Jinping demands unquestioning obedience to his dictatorial regime.

October 5, 2023

With Putin’s vulnerability, insider reporting on Russia matters more than ever

In the Great Purge of 1936-38, Soviet dictator Josef Stalin ordered the NKVD, the KGB's predecessor, to liquidate his real and perceived enemies in the Communist Party leadership, the Red Army and Russia's security services.

September 21, 2023

Response to Sept. 11 attacks embedded in U.S. national security strategy

On Sept. 11, 2001, I was in Tallinn, Estonia, when al Qaeda terrorists murdered nearly 3,000 people in Manhattan, at the Pentagon, and in southwestern Pennsylvania.

September 7, 2023

With U.S. gone, terrorist groups thrive again in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan

Last month, the U.S. Central Command said it conducted 20 joint operations in Iraq and 11 in Syria, killing five Islamic State operatives and capturing 30 fighters.

August 24, 2023

The critical work of CIA Director William Burns

CIA Director William Burns' high-value counsel to the president and his team, especially Secretary of State Antony Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan, is critical for making informed foreign policy decisions.

August 10, 2023

In intelligence, allies like Ukraine are the ultimate force multiplier

During my last overseas CIA assignment as a station chief in a South Asian war zone, we worked in close partnership with our colleagues in the intelligence community, State Department and U.S. military.

July 27, 2023

How Ukraine’s campaign to defend Bakhmut weakened Putin

In May 2022, the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut found itself on the front lines of Russia's war of aggression, the unlikely focus of a ferocious offensive by Kremlin forces.

July 13, 2023