The Evening: Brexit Showdown, US Sanctions Iran, Howlin’ Wolf and More

September 3, 2019

Brexit Showdown

Parliament was given a green light Tuesday to mount an effort to stop Britain from leaving the European Union without an agreement, in a high-pressure showdown with only a few weeks for Parliament to act before the Brexit deadline, as the NYT’s Stephen Castle reports.

Dive Deeper : “What Would a No-Deal Brexit Look Like?” by CFR’s Andrew Chatzky.

U.S. Sanctions Iran Space Agency

The United States sanctioned the Iran Space Agency and two affiliated research groups on Tuesday, accusing them of advancing Tehran’s missile programs, as Bloomberg’s Alex Wayne reports.

Afghanistan Pullout

Nine former U.S. ambassadors on Tuesday warned that Afghanistan could collapse in a “total civil war” if President Donald Trump withdraws all U.S. forces before the Kabul government and the Taliban conclude a peace settlement, as Reuters’ Jonathan Landay reports.

Dive Deeper : “US-Taliban Negotiations: How to Avoid Rushing to Failure,” via the Atlantic Council.

“The Civil Challenges to Peace in Afghanistan,” by CSIS’s Anthony Cordesman.

Enroll for Fall

Now enrolling for the Fall, CSIS & Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs offer a new Executive Master's in International Relations. Information here.

Video Shorts

Check out CSIS’s new series of video shorts: “Testify” and “High Resolution.” And don’t forget to subscribe to the CSIS YouTube Channel!

In That Number

5,400

The United States would pull 5,400 troops from Afghanistan within 135 days of signing an agreement with the Taliban.

Source: New York Times

Critical Quote

“The initial U.S. drawdown should not go so far or so fast that the Taliban believe they can achieve military victory."

— Statement by former U.S. diplomatic officials who have worked on Afghanistan: James Dobbins, Robert P. Finn, Ronald E. Neumann, William Wood, John Negroponte, Earl Anthony Wayne, Ryan Crocker, James Cunningham, and Hugo Llorens. Full Statement.

iDeas Lab

CSIS's Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative has expanded its interactive Maritime Claims of the Indo-Pacific map. The map captures the maritime claim lines and boundaries of 39 countries across the Indo-Pacific based on states’ domestic legislation, treaties, and submissions to international bodies.

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

Optics

(Photo credit: Daniel Leal-Olivas-WPA Pool/Getty Images). Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson today at 10 Downing Street.

Recommended Reading

“America’s long Afghan war nears an end,” via The Economist.

This Town Tomorrow

At 10:00 a.m., the State Department will hold a public meeting on the new Global Public Affairs Bureau and the future strategic vision for public diplomacy.

And, at 2:00 p.m., CAF – Development Bank of Latin America, the Inter-American Dialogue, and the Organization of American States will host the 23rd annual CAF Conference to debate the most pressing developments facing the Western Hemisphere.

Also, at 2:00 p.m., the Institute for Policy Studies, Oxfam, and the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador will hold a discussion on the future of water and the environmental movement in El Salvador.

Video

Xinjiang is ground zero for a new model of repression based on artificial intelligence and surveillance technology, and China has detained at least one million Uyghurs in reeducation facilities. CSIS's Michael Green and Amy Lehr explain "What's Happening in Xinjiang" in the newest episode of our video series about global policy hotspots.

Podcasts

The population of Africa is expected to double over the next 20 years. In this episode of Take as Directed, Janet Fleischman sits down with Ambassdor Mark Dybul, director of the Center for Global Health and Quality, to discuss why these demographic trends matter.

Listen on SoundCloud & Apple Podcasts.

Smiles

Over the long Labor Day weekend I took on a project that I once thought unthinkable: going through my CD collection to give them away. With Spotify, I carry most of what’s on my CDs (and so much more) in my pocket wherever I go. So why should a thousand physical Compact Discs take up space in our house my wife asked?

I had to go through each and every one of them because I do have some CDs that are not available on Spotify or any other streaming service—these are mostly out of print New Orleans gems and blues treasures, plus a few rare live recordings and Grateful Dead special editions. Out of more than a thousand CDs I curated about 150. The giveaways go to the Veterans of America and I’m happy about that.

So many CDs stood out as I went through the collection, but the blues discs blew me away. I started listening to “The London Howlin’ Wolf Sessions,” a 1971 masterpiece in which the Wolf recorded many of his standards backed by a band of Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Charlie Watts, Ian Stewart, and Bill Wyman. This is some serious music.