Agent-running is all about people. The safety of agents – who often treat their case officers as confessional, priest-like figures – is paramount. The art of agent-running | @mpolymer1.bsky.social engelsbergideas.com/notebook/the...

My latest, on agent-running

Heading in to DC studio monday morning 7am @msnownews.bsky.social ☕️☕️☕️☕️ ..... more on the IC/SOF raid that nabbed Maduro, policymakers (as is often the case) screwing up great tactical successes with lack of planning for the day after, and maybe a comment or two on the Redsox off season? 😉

On @msnownews.bsky.social 2pm bloc to discuss Venezuela... in particular, the CIA-JSOC fusion (built over the last two decades in the GWOT, but now relevant globally). Plus a bit on almost immediate Trump fumbling of post strike outcomes...it's all about oil, throwing Nobel winners under the bus.

On tomorrow morn 7am bloc…. @theweekendmsnow.bsky.social … major foreign policy issues from Venezuela to Iran. ☕️ ☕️☕️☕️☕️

On @ms.now 830 am this morn…. Lots ntl security issues to discuss on this New Year’s Eve… (though I do really want to talk about the RedSox, 41 days until pitchers and catchers report to Ft Myers! 😉) @mikebarnicle.bsky.social @jonlemire.bsky.social @joe-scarborough.bsky.social

My first love foreign policy wise is the middle east, and definitely I geek out on Israeli politics, both internal and external. My comments today on the Trump-Bibi meeting.....

On @msnownews.bsky.social top of the 10 am hour …. Florida is ground zero for diplomacy, today it’s Bibi’s turn.

On 6am tomorrow (monday) morning @msnownews.bsky.social to discuss the Florida diplomatic hootenannies.....Trump hosts Zelensky and then Bibi. Get your☕️☕️☕️ ready.....

🔥 🔥 This is superb, from my friend and @crisisroompod.bsky.social co-host, @markurban.bsky.social

On @msnownews.bsky.social starting at 1pm, as Florida is now the center of international diplomacy with Zelensky-Trump meeting today (and then Bibi tomorrow).

On @ms.now this morn at 10am to discuss US strikes in Nigeria

Coming up now on @ms.now ….. to discuss Russia-Ukraine peace process (if you want to call it that), plus Venezuela coming to a head....war drums are beating....but what if Maduro doesn't blink? Happy Christmas Eve all.....

🔗 linktr.ee/thecrisisroom

🚨 New episode alert! Is Britain already at war with Russia? With rare warnings from MI6 and the Armed Forces, Amber, @markurban.bsky.social & @mpolymer1.bsky.social ask if the UK must face a new reality in 2026 Listen to The Crisis Room on @globalplayer.com 🎧 #Britain #Russia #War

On 540am tomorrow @ms.now , ☕️ and 🥶 gear!

Australian police announced the death toll rose to at least 16 in the terrorist attack on a Jewish event at Bondi Beach. MS NOW National Security and Intelligence Analyst and former CIA Officer @mpolymer1.bsky.social shares his analysis. www.ms.now/weekends-wit...

💪💪🙏🙏👊👊 Hey, we r mentioned in here! @crisisroompod.bsky.social listed in “Best politics podcasts: from Political Currency to Westminster Insider” theweek.com/arts-life/cu...

On @ms.now 530am tomorrow in DC studio to discuss…. ☕️ and cold weather gear in order, real feel temp will be 16 degrees! Remember what my friend JD from Freeport Maine says: “there’s no such thing as bad weather, just bad gear!” @waytooearly.bsky.social is just around the corner!

T ball trophy. This is actually hilarious.

excited to award my kids the Burger King Peace Prize this weekend

Lots to talk about @crisisroompod.bsky.social this week - Salisbury poisoning, Europe’s Ukraine dilemma and whether Trumps targeting of narco boats is legal podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t...

🔗 linktr.ee/thecrisisroom

🚨 New episode alert! Putin found "morally responsible" for the Novichok attack that killed Dawn Sturgess — @markurban.bsky.social & Amber break down the Salisbury inquiry and what the government got wrong Listen to The Crisis Room on @globalplayer.com 🎧 #Putin #Salisbury #Inquiry

Tues. guest list: David Ignatius, Morton Halperin, Marc Polymeropoulos, Eugene Robinson, Sen. Mark Kelly, Mike Barnicle, Tim Barnicle, Michael Tomasky, Jen Palmieri, Geoffrey Corn, Dave Aronberg, Dom Chu, Dr. Vin Gupta

It is extraordinary that Witkoff is still the envoy. (What can still go wrong?) www.nytimes.com/2025/12/02/w...

Back in the Big Apple for a lightening quick visit (but no RedSox gear-I’m not that dumb🤣), so it’s a 630 am hit today on @ms.now , live from the NYC studio!

Friends on friends intel agreements are going right out the door....

🍿 … in a 60 second clip, @timmiller.bsky.social explains what so many of us feel. A 🥊 blow…. 👏 👏

I wish European leaders+NATO SecGen who practice a ritualistic ass kissing sycophantic grovel fest to Trump would understand this. Mamdani sacrificed nothing in his meeting. And walked away with a win. Trump respects strength and actually laughs at those that get on their knees.

Up and rollin soon to the DC studio! ☕️

I wrote this in Sept of 2019, about our Afghan allies (which the agency review staff cleared for pub). “Afghanistan and the Dark Side of No Man Left Behind – The Cipher Brief” www.thecipherbrief.com/column_artic...

On 7am sunday morning @ms.now , a post Thanksging buffet of foreign policy!

On @ms.now 2pm bloc, a hell of a lot going on in ntl security world....

My comments on our Afghan partners. www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/...

Tomorrow 8am on @ms.now . Tragic shooting in DC plus Russia-Ukraine peace process (not really).

New episode 🚨 In a special episode of The Crisis Room, Amber, @markurban.bsky.social & @mpolymer1.bsky.social look back at the Salisbury Poisonings - Russia's extraordinary attempt to assassinate a former spy on British soil. Listen on @globalplayer.com 🎧

On 8am hour @msnownews.bsky.social , where we r on US-Russia-Ukraine talks after a truly chaotic week in my old ntl security world. Happy Thanksgiving all!

Can’t stop thinking of following: Who leaked the audio files to Bloomberg? If it’s a friendly govt (who had such SIGINT capability) that would be most extraordinary. In essence, an op directed at the US. Because of abject fear of what had transpired, what this admin has become. Wow.

Do you have a burning question you’d like Amber, @markurban.bsky.social & @mpolymer1.bsky.social to answer in the next bonus episode? 🤔 Drop your suggestions below 👇🏻 #QnA #questions #podcast

Just like Rubio return to conus from Geneva (focus shift Ukraine to Venezuela)...I'll be on @ms.now 130pm to discuss what appears to be decision time for action in the western hem...perhaps my time in messy regime change ops can be helpful re current cost-benefit calculus.

Missing this

Rubio to the rescue. And a highly dysfunctional govt exposed. Secret deals with Russians (Jared and Russians, again?), power play between Secstate and VP in open, no interagency process. Well, the IC collect on Russian reaction will be fascinating. economist.com/europe/2025/... from The Economist

☕️ ☕️ 5am tomorrow @ms.now , more on the US diplomatic snafu, what it means, and Rubio’s rescue mission to Geneva.

On @ms.now during 3pm hour to discuss what appears to be a galactic USG diplomatic snafu that Trump owns.... the ugly origin+perpetuation of the Witkoff-Russia peace plan, the cycle of endorsements and walkbacks, the apparent Rubio-Vance divide, and where this all goes now....hang on, mercy me.

Will cease fire hold? What will Govt of Lebanon reaction be? An aside- continued extraordinary find/fix/ finish from Israeli IC and military. They still absolutely own the intel space in Lebanon. www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog-nov...

Something not yet considered by the media- how this total US diplomatic fiasco re Russia-Ukraine talks must have landed on US diplomats, military, and IC who work side by side Ukrainians. Questions from US staff presumably like-WTF is happening? What is our policy? What do we say to our partners?

Day 3 of the dysfunctional shit show, our Russia-Ukraine follies. Rubio reportedly calling everyone and essentially saying the Witcoff/Vance plan is a piece of Russian shit…well, that’s very good at least. Entire episode is ludicrous, and almost amusing, if stakes were not so high.

What is it with the Trump entourage and meeting secretly with Russians?…Did they not learn from last time around that this shit goes south quickly? 😬 (btw-the “Trump didn’t know” argument just a little stale now). His administration. He owns it. www.reuters.com/world/europe...

Must read. There has been epic arguments amongst my peers on the degree in which the Trump admin supports Ukraine. Phillips always was a skeptic. I was too, but I acknowledged some steps Trump took that were positive (intel sharing, PURL). Well, here we are. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...