The Evening: ISIS Video, Intel Ties, Dear Mr. Fantasy and More
April 29, 2019
ISIS Video of Baghdadi
The Islamic State released a video on Monday of a man it said was Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the group’s mysterious and reclusive leader, which would mark the first time he has showed his face while addressing his followers since the early days of the terrorist group’s rampage through Iraq and Syria. In the video, the man acknowledges that the group has lost its so-called caliphate in Iraq and Syria. But he said that the group’s battle with the West and its allies was far from over, as the NYT’s Ben Hubbard reports.
Dive Deeper: “After the ‘Caliphate’ The Metrics of Daesh and the Ongoing Challenge of Extremism,” by CSIS’s Anthony Cordesman.
Rethinking Intelligence Ties
The U.S. ratcheted up pressure on its European allies to ban Chinese-made gear from their telecom networks, asserting such equipment could be a shared national-security threat to the West and could compromise intelligence sharing, as the WSJ’s Parmy Olson reports.
Dive Deeper: “5G: To Ban or Not to Ban? It's Not Black or White,” by CSIS’s James Andrew Lewis.
Russia Election Threat
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Monday he expects Russia will try to interfere in U.S. elections for decades to come, describing Moscow as having long presented a threat to American elections — not just in 2016, as the Hill’s Morgan Chalfant reports.
Dive Deeper: “The Kremlin Playbook 2: The Enablers,” by CSIS’s Heather Conley and Donatienne Ruy, and Ruslan Stefanov and Martin Vladimirov of the Center for the Study of Democracy.
Trade Talks and Oil Sanctions
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday expressed confidence that trade talks between the United States and China will not be affected by the end of Iran oil waivers this week, as Reuters reports.
Dive Deeper: “What Effects Will Tighter U.S. Sanctions on Iran’s Oil Have?” by CFR’s Amy Jaffe.
Enroll for Fall
Now enrolling for the Fall, CSIS & Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs offer a new Executive Master's in International Relations. Information here.
Video Shorts
Check out CSIS’s new series of video shorts: “Testify” and “High Resolution.” In under 90 seconds, CSIS experts tell you what they told Congress in testimony, or use high-resolution satellite images and advanced mapping to break down national security issues. And don’t forget to subscribe to the CSIS YouTube Channel!
In That Number
$1.8 Trillion
Global spending on defense hit $1.82 trillion in 2018, up 2.6% on the previous year and the highest figure since 1988, the first year that reliable global data was available. The U.S. ($649 billion) and China ($250 billion) account for almost half of the world’s military expenditure.
Source: Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)
Critical Quote
“We are a Jewish nation that will stand tall, we will not let anyone or anything take us down. Terrorism like this will not take us down. We need to battle darkness with light, no matter how dark the world is we need to think of a little bit of light pushes away a lot of darkness."
— Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein, Chabad of Poway
iDeas Lab
In 2018, the total value of the energy trade between the U.S. and Canada came in at $116 billion, the second largest amount ever recorded.
The Andreas C. Dracopoulos iDeas Lab at CSIS enhances our research with the latest in cutting-edge web technologies, design, and video.
Optics
(Photo credit: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images). White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders speaks to reporters outside the White House today.
Recommended Reading
“Polar Powers: Russia’s Bid for Supremacy in the Arctic Ocean,” by the FT’s Nastassia Astrasheuskaya and Henry Foy.
This Town Tomorrow
Starting at 9:00 a.m., join CSIS for the final installment of the 2018-2019 PONI Conference Series, which highlights emerging leaders’ insights on a range of nuclear issues.
At 11:00 a.m., Brookings will host Mark T. Esper, Secretary of the United States Army, in a conversation on how the Army will adapt its force posture and strategic outlook in an era of great power competition.
Finally, at 2:00 p.m., the Heritage Foundation will hold a series of panel discussions on human rights in the context of North Korean policy.
Video
On Friday, CSIS released its newest installment in its video series High Resolution. Using satellite imagery, CSIS experts describe the role the IRGC-Quds forces play in expanding Iran’s influence in the Middle East. Watch the mini documentary.
Podcasts
CSIS is out with a new podcast - Cyber from the Start - which unveils the roots of today's cybersecurity policies. In this episode, host Jim Lewis interviews Admiral Michael McConnell, former Director of the National Security Agency, and the second Director of National Intelligence.
Listen on SoundCloud & Apple Podcasts.
Smiles
Note: Contains minor spoiler for soundtrack of the “Avengers: Engame.”
At press time they are still tallying up the numbers for open of “Avengers: Endgame” but we do know that the film shattered box-office records over the weekend, becoming the first film to earn more than $1 billion during its debut. “Endgame” defied all expectations, taking in a record $356 million in the U.S., and more than $1.22 billion internationally in just five days in theaters, another record.
I won’t get into the details of the movie except to say that my family saw it over the weekend and it made us smile. So let’s review: in one weekend, we had Endgame, plus an epic Game of Thrones battle for the ages…you gotta’ be kidding me! What more could anyone ask for?
As for the Endgame minor soundtrack spoiler, which isn’t really a spoiler since most of you who are going to see the film already saw it according to the above numbers. I loved the use of Traffic’s 1967 song “Dear Mr. Fantasy,” to help open this flick. It means that the next generation of young people is going to get exposed to some classic rock and roll.