The Evening: Chile Canceled, Iran Network Sanctioned, Here Comes Sunshine and More

Chile Withdraws from Hosting Climate and Trade Summits

President Sebastián Piñera of Chile said on Wednesday that his country, which has been rocked by a wave of recent protests, was not in a position to host a key United Nations climate change meeting and a major Asia-Pacific trade summit later this year, as the NYT’s Ernesto Londoño and Somini Sengupta report.

U.S. and Gulf Nations Sanction Iranian Financial Network

Saudi Arabia, Qatar and five other Gulf nations joined the U.S. in imposing sanctions on a financing network controlled by Iran’s military and several men linked to the Tehran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah, as the WSJ’s Ian Talley reports.

Hariri Defied Hezbollah

After hitting a dead end in efforts to defuse the crisis sweeping Lebanon, Saad al-Hariri informed a top Hezbollah official on Monday he had no choice but to quit as prime minister in defiance of the powerful Shi’ite group, as Reuters’ Laila Bassam and Tom Perry report.

Dive Deeper : “Critical Questions: Lebanon’s Government Collapses,” by CSIS’s Jon Alterman.

Turkey Condemns U.S. House Resolution On Armenian Genocide

Turkey condemned a decision by the U.S. House of Representatives to recognize the mass killings of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire as genocide, saying on Wednesday it would damage the “critical” relationship between the NATO allies, as the AP’s Zeynep Bilginsoy reports .

Dive Deeper : “Critical Questions: Congress Rebukes Erdogan, Defies Trump,” by CSIS’s Bulent Aliriza.

CSIS Executive Education

Join CSIS December 9-11 for our course, Unpacking the Defense Enterprise. Get a competitive advantage in analyzing the changes within the defense domain and better understand the future of the U.S. defense enterprise.

Video Shorts

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

In That Number

65,152

The number of Special Operations Forces assigned missions by U.S. Special Operations Command has grown from 29,500 personnel in 1999 to 65,152 today.

Source: CSIS, “U.S. Military Forces in FY 2020: SOF, Civilians, Contractors, and Nukes

Critical Quote

“A president must always put his compatriots above all else.”

— Chilean President Sebastian Pinera on canceling UN climate and Asia Pacific trade summits

iDeas Lab

CSIS
Newly declassified images of North Korea's Yongbyon Nuclear Research Center from 1970 display improvements in the internal road network within the operations area as part of ongoing infrastructure development efforts from this time period.

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

Optics

CSIS
(Photo credit: Eric Baradat/AFP/Getty Images). Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell held a news conference to announce interest rate cuts for the third time this year.

Recommended Reading

Global risks 2035 update: Decline or new renaissance?” by the Atlantic Council’s Mathew Burrows.

This Town Tomorrow

At 9:15 a.m., The CSIS Commission on Strengthening America’s Health Security will host a conference at the Hart Senate Office Building. This conference will address gender-based violence and methods to ensure access to women’s and girls’ health services amid disorder.

Also, at 10:00 a.m., CSIS will hold an exit interview with Career Minister, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Susan Fine on her career and recommendations for the future.

Later, at 2:00 p.m., CSIS’s International Security Program will host a conservation on the findings of the Congressionally mandated Syria Study Group.

Video

Today, The CSIS Energy & National Security Program hosted The Hon. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and The Hon. Joe Manchin (D-WV) for a conversation on energy policy priorities in the United States. Watch the Senator’s conversation here.

Podcasts

Die Welt
In the first episode of Defense 2020, Kathleen Hicks, director of CSIS's International Security Program, asks several Democratic defense experts how the Democratic Party is approaching key national security and defense issues heading into the 2020 U.S. election.

Listen on Spotify & Apple Podcasts.

Smiles

Ok, now one from some guys who live/lived in NorCal to cheer up our family, friends and all those who are dealing with the fires in California. This version of the Grateful Dead’s “Here Comes Sunshine” is the first track on the first volume of Dick’s Picks. That’s saying something.