The Evening: Israel Strikes Back, NK Provocations, After Midnight and More

Israel Strikes Back

Israel said it carried out airstrikes early on Wednesday against Iranian forces near the Syrian capital, in response to an Iranian attack on Israel a day earlier. The strikes killed at least 21 people, according to a rights monitoring group, as the NYT’s Megan Specia reports.

And, as the Times' Isabel Kershner and David Halbfinger report, after two deadlocked elections and three failed attempts at forming a government, Israel’s yearlong political paralysis isn’t over and it seems likely that a third election would be required to move forward

NK Provocations Could Return

U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun said on Wednesday a year-end deadline North Korea has set for Washington to show more flexibility in nuclear talks was an artificial one, but could mean a return to “provocative” steps that preceded the past two years of diplomacy, as Reuters’ David Brunnstrom and Daphne Psaledakis report.

Torture Claim

A former employee of the British consulate in Hong Kong has claimed Chinese police tortured him during a two-week detention in August to extract information about the territory’s protesters and UK diplomats as the FT’s Kathrin Hille reports.

CSIS Executive Education

Join CSIS December 9-11 for our course, Unpacking the Defense Enterprise. Get a competitive advantage in analyzing the changes within the defense domain and better understand the future of the U.S. defense enterprise.

Video Shorts

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

In That Number

336

Since 2015, the numbers and types of chemical weapons attacks have increased, with at least 336 documented cases in Syria alone.

Source: CSIS, “Rigid Structures, Evolving Threat: Preventing the Proliferation and Use of Chemical Weapons,” by Rebecca Hersman and Suzanne Claeys.

Critical Quote

“If it’s a matter of peace, so no more lives are lost, no problem, I renounce the candidacy.”

— Evo Morales, the exiled former president of Bolivia

iDeas Lab

Chemical weapon use is making a comeback. A new study from CSIS's Project on Nuclear Issues provides a framework for structuring the problem, identifies gaps and challenges, and puts forward options for improving the global effort to prevent the proliferation and use of these weapons.

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: Eddie Mulholland/WPA Pool.Getty Images). Queen Elizabeth II presents the Chatham House Prize 2019 to Sir David Attenborough at the Royal institute of International Affairs, Chatham House today in London.

Recommended Reading

“AI Principles and the Challenge of Implementation,” by CSIS’s Morgan Dwyer.

This Town Tomorrow

At 8:30 a.m., CSIS will hold an all-day forum on Russia and its transatlantic policy towards Ukraine, Georgia, and Moldova five years after Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea and military incursion into eastern Ukraine.

And, at 12:30 p.m., the Middle East Institute will host a panel discussion on the important role of women within Syrian civil society and in local and international initiatives aimed at shaping a better future for Syria.

Later, at 2:00 p.m., the Brookings Institute will hold a conversation with Christine Loh, think tank founder and former Hong Kong politician, on the current state of affairs in Hong Kong and its path forward.

Video

Last week, CSIS held a discussion with the first lady of Afghanistan, Rula Ghani. The conversation focused on the progress of women and their role in the country’s peace process. Watch the event here.

Podcasts

On a new episode of the Smart Women Smart Power podcast, host Beverly Kirk speaks with Konchok and Migyur to discuss Kung Fu’s role in promoting gender equality in the Western Himalayas.

Listen on Spotify & Apple Podcasts.

Smiles

“After Midnight…find out what it is all about.”

Thanks for all your notes about Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real. I love talking about them. And I love how they pay homage to the musicians that came before them while injecting their own swagger into the music to keep it fresh.

Take “After Midnight,” a song that captures the American imagination with an earthy poetry like very few others do. It was written by the late J.J. Cale, an Oklahoma blues rocker who artists like Eric Clapton, Jerry Garcia and Neil Young believed was one of the most influential musicians in rock and roll. Cale first released “After Midnight” in 1966 but had no success with it. Clapton made it a hit in 1970 and again in 1988 when he re-recorded it for a Michelob commercial—I know you remember that one…

Jerry Garcia put his stamp on “After Midnight” with the Jerry Garcia Band and made it a staple of his repertoire when performing without the Dead. I hadn’t heard anyone else do justice to “After Midnight” until Lukas & Promise began performing it. I really like this version.