The Evening: Enough Vaccine By End of May, Russia Sanctions, Bad Company and More

Biden Says U.S. Will Have Enough Covid-19 Vaccines by End of May

President Biden said today that the United States would have enough Covid-19 vaccines for all American adults by the end of May, after regulators authorized the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine and Merck agreed to help produce it, as the WSJ’s Sabrina Siddiqui and Tarini Parti report .

U.S. and EU Impose Sanctions on Russian Officials over Navalny

The United States and European Union have imposed sanctions on Russian officials accused of playing a role in poisoning and jailing Russia’s most prominent opposition politician Alexei Navalny, as the FT’s Katrina Manson and Michael Peel report .

Dive Deeper: “Navalny's Arrest: Response and Aftermath,” a short video in CSIS’s Critical Questions From Home series.

FBI Director Says Domestic Terrorism Cases Have Soared to 2,000 in Recent Months

FBI Director Christopher A. Wray said today that his agents are pursuing roughly 2,000 domestic terrorism cases—a huge spike as the FBI tries to show it is taking the threat of such attacks seriously in the wake of January’s pro-Trump riot at the U.S. Capitol, as the Washington Post’s Devlin Barrett and Matt Zapotosky report.

Executive Education

Navigating U.S. Foreign Assistance features a hands-on study of the latest trends and techniques today’s international development and humanitarian leaders need to successfully maximize their impact. Through interactive seminars, expert-led case studies, and a culminating crisis simulation, participants will join a diverse network of industry professionals and pair their own unique experience with CSIS’s rich array of coaching resources. Register here.

Coronavirus Crisis Update

The Coronavirus Crisis Update podcast brings you the latest updates and analysis from CSIS experts and the leaders directing the global response. Past guests include NIAID Director Dr. Anthony Fauci, White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain, IHME Director Dr. Chris Murray, Covid-19 Advisory Group members Dr. Luciana Borio and Dr. Celine Gounder, chef Jose Andres, and more. Listen on Apple Podcasts & Spotify.

Video Shorts

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

In That Number

14.2%

China’s defense spending stood at just $26.1 billion (constant 2018 U.S. dollars) in 1995, accounting for only 2.4 percent of the world total. By 2019, it had grown tenfold to $266.5 billion and accounted for 14.2 percent of global defense spending. In the same period, Russia’s defense spending doubled, and the United States' spending grew by 47 percent.

Source: CSIS China Power Project

Critical Quote

“This country will have enough vaccine supply as a target for every adult in America by the end of May.”

— President Joseph Biden

iDeas Lab

Through interactive graphs and data visualizations CSIS's Defense360 tracks how the military has been affected by Covid-19.

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

Optics

(Photo credit: Graeme Jennings-Pool/Getty Images.)

FBI Director Christopher Wray testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee about the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Recommended Reading

“Red Flags: Triaging China's Projects in the Western Balkans,” by CSIS’s Heather Conley, Jonathan Hillman, Donatienne Ruy, and Maesea McCalpin.

This Town Tomorrow

Tomorrow, at 8:00 a.m., the CSIS Japan Chair and Japan Institute of International Affairs hosts the 2021 U.S.-Japan Security Seminar, featuring a video greeting from Toshimitsu Motegi, minister of foreign affairs of Japan. The conversation will cover prevailing themes in U.S.-Japan relations, such as aligning regional strategies under the Free and Open Indo-Pacific construct and priorities for defense cooperation.

Later, at 11:00 a.m., the CSIS Humanitarian Agenda will hold a panel discussion on conditions in Central America as well as the necessary government and civil society responses to the needs of asylum seekers and vulnerable migrants.

Also, at 1:00 p.m., join the CSIS Strategic Technologies Program for a conversation on how to develop effective quantum education, programs, tools, and curricula.

Video

CSIS today launched Red Flags: Triaging China's Projects in the Western Balkans, a new report examining Chinese economic influence in the Western Balkans. Watch the report rollout event, featuring Matthew D. Steinhelfer of the State Department's Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations, here.

Podcasts

On today's episode of Coronavirus Crisis Update, my colleague J. Stephen Morrison and I spoke with Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of Brown University's School of Public Health. He gave us his letter grade for the Biden administration's Covid-19 response up to this point, highlighting important successes and ways to improve. We also discussed the importance of the United States engaging internationally to control outbreaks, bridge the dangerous vaccine gap, and increase manufacturing.

Listen on Spotify, Google Podcasts, and Apple Podcasts .

Smiles

It’s not a cliché to say that great films, filmic language and their accompanying soundtracks seem to be a thing of the past. I can’t think of any recent films or performances that have had impact on me in the way that pictures like Scorsese’s “GoodFellas” or “The Color of Money” did. Or “Saturday Night Fever,” “Rocky,” “Apocalypse Now” or even “Risky Business” for that matter. I recently watched Paul Newman in “Color of Money” with the Robbie Robertson soundtrack and was transfixed by his Oscar winning performance.

I’ve written about this before, but I’ll say it again: premium television is where it’s at these days—which is a good thing because we’re all stuck at home on our iPads.

A cool little show that is out right now on the Epix network “Bridge and Tunnel,” has checked a few boxes for me. It comes from one of my favorite writer/director/actors, Edward Burns, who I view as kind of a genius. The show is set in 1980 Long Island with a group of recent college grads who have all returned home. (Eddie Burns plays the lead character’s dad.)

It’s nostalgic to be sure, but it’s more than that. It captures a depth and a feeling that you used to see in great pictures. And, just like in the great films I refer to above, the soundtrack itself becomes a character. The final “Bridge” episode “Swan Song” (a Led Zep reference of course) aired Sunday and opened with Bad Company’s hit “Shooting Star.” This show couldn’t have come at a better time.