The Evening CSIS: Turkey Shoot, Iranian Hackers, Takin’ It To The Streets & 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 click here and if you want to view this in your browser, click here.

Turkey Shoot
Vladimir Putin said Turkey's shooting down of a Russian warplane was a “stab in the back,” and in Washington, President Obama called for de-escalation but said Turkey has the right to defend its airspace, as the Washington Post’s Hugh Naylor, Andrew Roth and Daniela Deane report (with excellent video, photos and graphics included).

Dive Deeper: CSIS’s Heather Conley today published a new commentary The Danger Games: Russia and NATO Collide .

And, CSIS’s Bulent Aliriza wrote in an email to me today from Ankara,

“Responding to the strong comments by Russian President Vladimir Putin after the shooting down of a Russian fighter plane over southern Turkey, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan defended the action equally strongly while condemning Russia's bombing of Turkmens in Syria close to the border and support for Assad. Although NATO and the U.S. are understandably worried about a further worsening of tensions with Russia, there is nevertheless a very real danger of escalation because the bilateral relationship between Ankara and Moscow has become so badly frayed and unpredictable.”

Plus, CFR’s Richard Haass today published anop-ed for the Financial Times “Opponents of ISIS Must Influence Not Isolate Russia.”

Also, via Ashish Kumar Sen of the Atlantic Council, “ Turkey Shot Down a Russian Jet. Here's Why it Matters .”

New Suspect

An investigation into the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris expanded today when French prosecutors said a man who provided lodging to the suspected ringleader must have known of a terrorist plot, and Belgium issued a warrant for a new suspect, as Reuters reports.


Meanwhile in Washington, President Obama met with French President Hollande. The two leaders vowed to escalate airstrikes against ISIS and bolster intelligence sharing following the deadly attacks in Paris, as AP’s Julie Pace reports.

Dive Deeper: CSIS’s Anthony Cordesman today published a new commentary Fighting Fear as Well as ISIS: Setting the Right Priorities .

And, CSIS’s Sarah Watson published anew commentary today India’s Getting Serious about Counterterrorism — Again in wake of the Paris attacks.

The White House today provided a transcript of President Obama and President Hollande’s joint news conference held in the East Room.

South China Sea in Court
The Philippines asked global judges at the Hague today to recognize its right to exploit waters in the South China Sea, as Reuters’ Thomas Escritt reports.

Dive Deeper: CSIS’s Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI) today celebrates its first year as a microsite. The last 12 months have underscored the need for greater transparency in Asia’s contested waters. With Asian maritime tensions likely to rise further in 2016, a commitment to transparency will only grow more necessary. View all of our new content by visiting amti.csis.org

Iranian Hackers
Four months after inking a nuclear deal with Iran, American officials and private security groups say they see a surge in sophisticated computer espionage by Iran, culminating in a series of cyberattacks against State Department officials over the past month, as the New York Times’s David Sanger and Nicole Perlroth report.

Dive Deeper: CSIS’s Strategic Technologies Program led by James Lewis and Denise Zheng offers a trove of information about cybersecurity, including a timeline of significant cyber events .

In that Number
52%

The percentage of British people who would support the UK leaving the EU, according to a recent poll.
Source: Reuters

Critical Quote
"You don't defeat an enemy by becoming it. You do not defend freedom by reducing it."
— Anthony H. Cordesman, Arleigh A. Burke Chair in Strategy on fighting fear as well as ISIS .

One to Watch

Hugh Naylor (@HughNaylor) is The Washington Post’s Beirut correspondent. Hugh was previously a freelance contributor to The New York Times and the Middle East correspondent for The National, an Abu-Dhabi based newspaper. Look to Hugh for the latest news out of the Levant. ( Photo Credit: The Washington Post)

Optics
Business Insider has footage of a Russian jet plummeting to the ground after Turkish forces downed the aircraft for allegedly violating their airspace.

Sounds
Jane Fraser, CEO Citigroup Latin America, joined CSIS’s Smart Women Smart Power podcast to discuss the outlook for emerging market economies both globally and in Latin America today.

Highly Recommended
A must read piece today from The New Yorker’s David Denby about the ISIS propaganda magazine Dabiq, “ The Perfect Children of ISIS: Lessons from Dabiq .”

CSIS on Demand
As policymakers struggle to address the Syrian refugee crisis in the wake of the Paris attacks, take a look back at this in-depth discussion of Europe's migration crisis from this year's Global Security Forum.

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

Jeff Bezos shared some of his visions this morning—one of them is patience.

Smiles
Encore. So many of you wrote me about the Doobie Brothers and their brilliant guitarist Jeff “Skunk” Baxter. Many of you also correctly pointed out a fact I neglected to mention—Skunk is a bona fide national security expert as well as a world renowned musician (see “ Rocker Jeff Baxter moves and shakes in national security ,” by the Wall Street Journal’s Yochi Dreazen, May 24, 2005).

But the thing about the Doobies is their longevity, the consistently high quality of their music, and above all, the grooves. I smile every time I hear “Takin’ It To The Streets.” It’s actually a tough song, “You, telling me the things you're gonna do for me/I ain't blind and I don't like what I think I see,” but it’s delivered by Michael McDonald’s golden vocals.

The song (and the album) hit the racks in 1976. This blistering performance is from ’77. Don’t forget to check out Skunk on guitar—what a smile.


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