The Evening CSIS: Iran detains US ships, ISIS Attack in Turkey, Under Pressure & 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. If you want to view this in your browser, click here.

Say What???
On the eve of President Obama’s final State of the Union address Iran took the crews of two small United States Navy patrol boats into custody, as theNew York Times’ Helene Cooper reports. No, this is not reporting by The Onion.

Dive Deeper: Last February, CSIS’s Anthony Cordesman published T h e Iranian Sea-Air-Missile Threat to Gulf Shipping (Chapter 6 Page 73 Covers “Closing the Gulf”: Iran’s Real World Military Options for Asymmetric Warfare).

Suicide Blast in Turkey
A suicide bomber believed to be linked to the Islamic State struck the historic heart of Istanbul on Tuesday, killing at least 10 people in the group’s first major attack on Turkey’s vital tourism industry.

The bombing, which injured 15 others, took place in the shadow of the city’s famous nine-domed Blue Mosque, which draws visitors from around the world. Most of the victims were German nationals, Turkish officials said, as the Washington Post’s Loveday Morris and Erin Cunningham report.

Dive Deeper: The Atlantic Council’s Aaron Stein today published “ ISIS Changes Tactics in Turkey.”

Military Deal with Philippines
The Philippines Supreme Court today declared constitutional a security deal with the United States allowing an increased U.S. military presence in the former U.S. colony as tension rises in the South China Sea, as Reuters reports.

Dive Deeper: CSIS’s Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI), an interactive micro-website, has all the latest satellite images of continuing construction in the South China Sea as well as key analysis regarding the regions’ maritime disputes, has a new feature about the Philippines’ case against China in The Hague “ A Case of Rocks or Islands?”

In that Number
$5.5 billion
The total cost of anti-ISIL operations since August 2014.
Source: DoD via @ToddHarrisonDC.

Critical Quote
“For a lot of these countries that are currently investing pretty substantially in defense capabilities, the lower price of oil is definitely an issue.”
—Andrew Hunter, director of the CSIS Defense-Industrial Initiatives Program, on the Middle East arms race amid falling oil prices.
Source:International Business Times .

One to Watch

(Photo Credit: Twitter.)
Gillian Wong (@gillianwong) is returning to the Associated Press to serve as their greater China news director. Gillian was previously a technology correspondent for the Wall Street Journal and reported for the Associated Press from Beijing and Singapore. Gillian is one to watch for the latest news out of China.

Optics
Agence France-Presse has a new report out that sheds light on Myanmar’s thriving satirical cartoon scene.

Highly Recommended
An exclusive from FCW’s Sean Lyngaas: “ What DHS and the FBI learned from the OPM breach .”

CSIS Today
Today CSIS hosted “Asia Forecast 2016,” our annual event in which experts explore US-Asia issues in the coming year and preview economic, political, and security developments across Asia. Catch the recap here.

CSIS Tomorrow
Join us tomorrow at 8:00 a.m. as the CSIS Europe Program hosts Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Angus King (I-ME) for a half-day conference on “ National Security Challenges and Icebreaking Operations in the Arctic .” And after, stick around for “ The Future of Arctic Shipping Considered,” as participants analyze the current and future state of play related to destination shipping and transshipment across the Arctic region.

This Town Tomorrow
Join the Hudson Institute tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m. as Representative Michael McCaul (R-TX), chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, speaks on 2015 global terror and how to defend America in a new age of operations. For more information and to watch online, click here.

CSIS on Demand
What does the new climate agreement mean for future U.S. and international efforts to combat climate change? White House administration officials Paul Bodnar and Richard Duke both joined CSIS for a readout on the Paris agreement. Watch the fascinating discussion here.

Sounds
Ahead of tonight’s State of the Union address, NPR’s David Welna asks, did Obama achieve last year’s national security commitments? As he delves into the question, NPR looks back on some of the president’s pledges.

I Like It Like That
Eye-catching things in CSIS's orbit

The White House is partnering with Genius, a digital annotation platform that made its name annotating song lyrics, first with rap, then other genres. We annotate all the time at CSIS. (See our Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative .) Glad to see the White House is getting up to speed.

Smiles
The death of David Bowie rocked the world yesterday. I was fortunate to commiserate with so many of you who wrote in. Thanks for making me smile.

And, an interesting thing happened that I didn’t see coming. I started to hear from people that I hadn’t caught up with in a long time. I don’t know why I was surprised; world events clearly bring people together—and the experience of sharing music is transcendent for so many. That’s why I love music, and why I love writing about the people who make music.

Bowie himself was transcendent because he conjured emotions that registered deeply. And just about everyone who enjoys his music identifies with it in their own way.

The Bowie that spoke to me was the Bowie that harnessed North Philadelphia funk and the harbinger of disco. My early childhood memories are a sepia-toned North Philly cruising by outside the window of my grandfather’s Oldsmobile with grooves coming from the street corners and radios all over town that sounded warm, polyrhythmic, and welcoming. It seemed like everyone was dancing in those days—even in the streets.

This morning I listened to Bowie’s 1974 song “Fascination” over and over. I think that song has always been a part of me—even before I knew its name or owned the record. Sometimes music is just embedded in our DNA. Bowie’s music, in all of its different iterations, certainly has something primal about it.

Bowie often wrote about loneliness and alienation and what it’s like to be different. Maybe that’s why so many people around the world felt his loss so personally. Or maybe he just made people smile when it counted most. This unforgettable performance with Annie Lennox in London at Freddy Mercury’s tribute concert is one of those smiles that counted.

Feedback
I always welcome and benefit from your feedback. Please drop me a line at aschwartz@csis.org.