The Evening: ISIS Leader, Aegis Intercept, the Byrds and More

Good Evening,

It's Thursday, June 22nd.

Note: The Evening will be “gone fishin’” on Friday, June 23. We will resume publication on Monday, June 26.

Russia Says ISIS Leader Killed

A senior Russian diplomat says the head of the Islamic State group has most likely been killed in a Russian airstrike. The AP reports that Deputy Foreign Minister Oleg Syromolotov told the state-run RIA Novosti news agency today that “according to the Defense Ministry’s information, there is a high probability that (Abu Bakr) al-Baghdadi has been killed when the Russian air force hit militants’ headquarters on the southern outskirts of Raqqa in late May.”

Dive deeper:
See the Brookings Essay, “The Believer: Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi Leader of the Islamic State.”

U.S. Navy Ballistic Missile Intercept Test Fails

The U.S. Navy conducted a failed ballistic missile intercept Wednesday with its SM-3 Block IIA off the coast of Hawaii. The destroyer John Paul Jones, running the Navy’s top-of-the-line Aegis Baseline 9.C2 combat system, failed to intercept a medium-range ballistic missile launched from the Pacific Missile Range Facility at Kauai, Hawaii, as Defense News’ David Larter reports.

Dive deeper:
CSIS’s Tom Karako penned a new Critical Questions (CSIS’s signature series of asked and answered short papers): “Aegis Intercept Test.”

EU Summit

EU leaders launched their most ambitious defense plan in decades today, agreeing a multibillion-euro weapons fund, shared financing for battlegroups, and allowing a coalition of the willing to conduct more missions abroad, as Reuters’ Robin Emmott and Jean-Baptiste Vey report.

French president Emmanuel Macron pledged today to breathe new life into a European Union stung by the departure of Britain and deeply divided over the best way to accommodate refugees, as the AP’s Lorne Cook and Angela Charlton report.

Dive deeper:
See Chatham House’s new report, “The Future of Europe: Comparing Public and Elite Attitudes.”

In That Number

6,500

Number of U.S. troops currently in Eastern Europe, working with NATO counterparts during their ongoing response to Russian aggression in Ukraine.
Source: Vox.

Critical Quote

“I predict far more continuity than change in U.S. defense strategy over the coming year.”

— CSIS’s Kathleen Hicks in her new report, “Defense Strategy and the Iron Triangle of Painful Trade-offs.”

Optics

A member of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) holds a weapon in the Syrian city of Raqqa during an offensive by U.S.-backed fighters to retake the ISIS bastion. (Photo credit: DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP/Getty Images.)

iDeas Lab

The Andreas C. Dracopoulos iDeas Lab at CSIS enhances our research with the latest in cutting-edge web technologies, design, and video.

The CSIS Missile Defense Project has a new video exploring the Arleigh Burke-Class Destroyer and the assets it keeps aboard. Watch it here .

Recommended Reading

“Some Trump Aides Want a New Leader at the Fed,” as Bloomberg’s Craig Torres, Saleha Mohsin, and Jennifer Jacobs report.

This Town Tomorrow

Join CSIS at 10:30 a.m. for a roundtable conversation with Ambassador Daniel Fried to discuss his 40 years of public service, including ambassadorship to Poland and a position as the State Department’s Coordinator for Sanctions Policy.

Join the Wilson Center at 11:00 a.m. for a teleconference on the current direction of China’s cybersecurity strategy and the implications of China’s much-anticipated Cyber Security Law.

On Demand

In case you missed it - check out Tuesday's book launch of Edward Luce's The Retreat of Western Liberalism.

Sounds

The latest CogitAsia examines how China’s tech innovation drive fits into the country’s wider economic picture.

Smiles

The Byrds formed in LA in 1964 and blazed a trail as one of the most influential rock groups of the 60s with their fusion of folk, country rock and psychedelia. Throughout their existence, the Byrds would change as members of the band came and went. The original lineup consisted of Jim McGuinn who would later be known as Roger McGuinn (lead guitar, vocals), Gene Clark (tambourine, vocals), David Crosby (rhythm guitar, vocals), Chris Hillman (bass guitar, vocals), and Michael Clarke (drums).

It’s amazing how well the Byrd’s music has held up—the harmonies, McGuinn’s signature twelve-string guitar. When I heard their classic “8 Miles High” in a hip Santa Monica restaurant last week it sounded almost new to me even though it was first released in ’66. Critics often cite “8 Miles High” as the first psychedelic rock song but to me it’s so much more than that. It’s a sweeping masterpiece which sounds good just about anywhere, anytime.

I invite you to email me at aschwartz@csis.org and follow me on Twitter @handrewschwartz