Daniel N. Hoffman
Columns by Daniel N. Hoffman
China’s Trojan horse real estate acquisition threatens America’s power grid
China has made the control over foreign real estate a central tool in its increasingly aggressive and diverse arsenal. Published August 13, 2020
Christopher Steele’s failings go far beyond dodgy Trump ‘dossier’
Christopher Steele would best serve his own interests -- and the national security of both the U.K. and U.S. -- with a mea culpa admitting his errors of judgment and laying out the multitude of lessons we should learn from his shoddy work product. Published July 30, 2020
Is Russia paying the Taliban bounties to kill U.S. troops?
A Taliban bounty plot would be completely consistent with Mr. Putin's cloak-and-dagger approach to tactics and strategy. Published July 16, 2020
Gina Haspel and CIA stream recruitment efforts
Last month, for the first time ever, the CIA began airing recruitment videos on entertainment, news and lifestyle streaming services. And the clandestine life appears to have its attractions. Published July 2, 2020
Fighting the dark art of Russian disinformation this presidential election
National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien warned last month that America's foreign adversaries will seek to exploit our domestic crises to "sew discord and to try and damage our democracy." Published June 18, 2020
Iraq’s promising new leader Mustafa al-Kadhimi deserves our support
The Iraqi parliament's approval last month of a new government under Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi was a welcome development for a country devastated by terrorism, decades of violence and corruption. Published June 4, 2020
How the United States can effectively contain China
The United States needs to take the lead in holding China accountable and countering Mr. Xi's strategy. Published May 21, 2020
Lessons learned from the Steele dossier fiasco
It has taken too many years, but the infamous Steele dossier has been finally and thoroughly discredited, but not before inflicting great harm on our political process. Published May 7, 2020
Don’t let Iran off the economic hook during COVID-19 crisis
The international community should offer Iran assistance -- not in cash but in kind. Send ventilators, CT scanners and protective gear, all under close international scrutiny. Published April 23, 2020
Why Russia’s interference in domestic politics must be detected and deterred
While we focus ruthlessly on beating the coronavirus, let's remember our enemies have their sights set on our presidential election, only a few months away. Published April 9, 2020
Taiwan rises to coronavirus challenge despite Beijing’s hostility
Taiwan implemented a comprehensive plan created in the aftermath of the SARS epidemic in 2003, fortifying the roof, as the British are fond of saying, when it was sunny. At the first notification that a new virus strain had appeared in China, Taiwan reacted with efficiency and alacrity. Published March 26, 2020
Xi Jinping’s coronavirus Chernobyl exposes China’s fatal vulnerabilities
Three-plus decades later, the coronavirus pandemic has exposed Communist China's fault lines, lines eerily similar to the Soviet Union's. There are the same obsequious political apparatchiks, the same brittle and opaque bureaucracy, and the same state-controlled media deployed not to inform the public but to preserve the regime's control and protect the regime's image abroad. Published March 12, 2020
Obama’s Russia failures can’t be repeated in 2020 vote
The 2020 presidential election is in the Kremlin's crosshairs. Following DNI official Shelby Pierson's recent classified briefing to lawmakers, rumors are swirling about Russia aid to President Trump and Democratic front-runner Sen. Bernie Sanders. It appears Mr. Putin again is purposely advertising Kremlin interference to tarnish the candidates' reputations and sow chaos here. Published February 27, 2020
Intelligence community can help on climate change
The intelligence community might not be on the hook to provide a definitive scientific analysis of climate change and global warming, but intelligence analysts can play a key role in assessing how climate change is already affecting our national security and what the trend lines suggest. Published February 13, 2020
Gina Haspel keeps CIA intelligence honest, apolitical
The recent successful U.S. strikes against ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and top Iranian Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani have highlighted the crucial, multifaceted role of the intelligence community in U.S. national security. Published January 30, 2020
U.S. hostages of Iran embassy takeover deserve compensation
There is no question that 9/11 victims deserve restitution, but it shouldn't come at the expense of our fellow U.S. citizens who were held hostage in Iran. The attack and takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran was the Iranian regime's first act of terrorism against the U.S. Published January 16, 2020
‘Tea Leaves’ story shows Vladimir Putin’s U.S. election reach
Russian President Vladimir Putin, who spent his formative years in the KGB and later served as director of Russia's FSB security police, wanted the world to know he was seeking to influence U.S. public opinion. Published January 2, 2020
CIA patriots killed in the 2009 Khost attacks will be remembered
We honor our fallen colleagues by carrying on with the mission. That is why on Dec. 30, I remember our brave Khost Base patriots who gave their lives in service to a grateful nation, "far from home," as then-CIA Director Leon Panetta said, "doing the hard work that must be done to protect our country from terrorism." Published December 26, 2019
A primer on China’s spy war targeting the U.S. and the West
Rather than becoming the "responsible stakeholder" that U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick forecast in 2005, President Xi Jinping has chosen instead to unsheathe China's aggressive military, economic and political policies to confront the United States and its allies. Published December 12, 2019
Private sector has a big role in the cybersecurity wars
Cyberspace, the human-made fifth domain, has proven to be a great force multiplier for free expression and commerce. Published November 28, 2019
