The Evening CSIS: Under Review, Mosul in the Meantime, Nighthawks & More
Good Evening,
Welcome to The Evening CSIS—my daily guide to key insights CSIS brings to the events of the day plus HIGHLY RECOMMENDED content from around the world. To subscribe, please sign up here.
Under Review
President Obama has ordered the intelligence community to conduct a "full review" of "malicious cyber activity" timed to US elections, the White House said today, as NPR’s Tamara Keith reports.
Uncertainty
The impeachment today of President Park Geun-hye of South Korea throws both her country and US policy in the region into deep uncertainty, as North Korea’s nuclear program advances and the incoming administration of Donald Trump deliberates over whether to adjust Washington’s stance, as the New York Times’ Choe Sang-Hun reports.
Dive Deeper: The CSIS Korea Chair’s micro-website “Beyond Parallel” examines policy surrounding South and North Korea.
Mosul in the Meantime
Iraqi forces captured a neighborhood in east Mosul today, pushing deeper into the heart of the Islamic State's Iraq stronghold and destroying three sites where it produced car bombs used in waves of suicide attacks, as Reuters’ Dominic Evans reports.
Dive Deeper: Last week, CSIS’s Jon Alterman hosted an expert panel discussion on the challenges facing us after Mosul, as part of CSIS’s annual Global Security Forum. You can read key highlights from the discussion with Dave Kilcullen and Jessica Lewis McFate. or watch the panel on demand.
In That Number
1,000
The number of Russian athletes that were involved in a state sponsored doping cover-up. Source: PBS.
Critical Quote
“Our main challenge is that ISIS has completely preoccupied our attention and has consumed most of our resources in the ongoing war on terrorism during a time when al Qaeda has been quietly rebuilding.”
—Georgetown University’s Bruce Hoffman on the need for a comprehensive counterterrorism strategy. Source: Cipher Brief.
One to Watch
Farah Pandith ( @Farah_Pandith ) was the first-ever special representative to Muslim communities at the State Department. Farah is the cochair of CSIS’s Commission on Countering Violent extremism, whose report, Turning Point, provides a comprehensive blueprint on how to effectively combat the growing appeal of violent extremism. You can follow all of Farah’s work on her website here: farahpandith.com.
Optics
(Photo Credit: Mark Wilson/Getty Images.)
Tourists gather near a tribute to former astronaut and US senator John Glenn at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington today.
Highly Recommended
“The Two Friends Who Changed How We Think About How We Think,” on Michael Lewis’s new book by Cass Sunstein and Richard Thaler for the New Yorker.
CSIS Today
CSIS’s International Security Program hosted “Future Vertical Lift: Service Perspectives on Requirements.”
And CSIS’s Project on Prosperity and Development hosted “Combating Child Trafficking and Supporting Survivors through Strategic Development.”
CSIS Monday
Join CSIS’s Freeman Chair in China Studies and the Asia Society at 9:00 a.m. for “China’s 15th WTO Anniversary: Assessing the Record and Charting the Path Forward.”
And join CSIS’s Russia and Eurasia Program at 10:00 a.m. for “Russian National Identity and Foreign Policy.”
This Town Monday
Join the US Institute of Peace at 9:00 a.m. for “Getting Ahead of the Curve: The Evolving Threat of Violent Extremism.”
Join Brookings at 1:30 p.m. for “U.S. Policy Toward North Korea: The Human Rights and Security Linkage.”
CSIS On Demand
Recap our events from this week on Medium.
Sounds
cogitAsia tackles India’s impending health care challenges in a new podcast, “Innovating Health Care in India.”
I Like It Like That
Spotify on demand for free? A lot of people would like that, but I will still pay because it’s THAT GOOD.
Smiles
I think my favorite use of music in a premium TV show comes from The Wire. In the first episode of the show’s second season, the legendary DC blues band, The Nighthawks perform their classic “16 Tons” in a Baltimore dive (yes, Dad, you called it.) It’s one of the show’s greatest scenes and it puts the viewer right in the bar with the dock working Sobotka family and friends. It doesn’t get much grittier than a Baltimore tavern on the waterfront with The Nighthawks performing. Talk about a smile.
Feedback
I always welcome and benefit from your feedback. Please drop me a line at aschwartz@csis.org