The Evening: Putin 2020 Election Interference, NK Message to Biden, Unbroken Chain and More

Putin Authorized Election Interference in 2020

Russian President Vladimir Putin authorized extensive efforts to interfere in the 2020 presidential election to denigrate the candidacy of Joe Biden, including intelligence operations to influence people close to former President Trump. In addition, Iran carried out a multipronged covert influence operation intended to undercut Trump’s re-election chances but didn’t directly promote his rivals, as the WSJ reports.

European Medicines Agency Says Benefits of AstraZeneca Vaccine Outweigh Risks

The head of the European Medicines Agency said today that health regulators remained “firmly convinced” that the benefits of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine outweighed the risks amid concerns that the shots caused blood clots in some people, as the Washington Post reports.

NK Message to Biden

North Korea issued its first warning shot against the Biden administration today, denouncing Washington for going forward with joint military exercises with South Korea and raising “a stink” on the Korean Peninsula, as the NYT reports.

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 seminars, 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

272 Million

272 million people in the world face acute hunger today, up from 135 million pre-pandemic.

Source: CSIS, “Covid-19 and Global Food Security: One Year Later”

Critical Quote

“We’ve got to get the overwhelming majority of the population vaccinated if we want to get real protection against the virus.”

— Dr. Anthony Fauci

iDeas Lab

CSIS Aerospace Security Project expert Todd Harrison recently testified before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense about future defense spending. Watch the latest episode in CSIS's Testify video series to learn more about his recommendations.

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: Kazuhiro Nogi/Pool/AFP via Getty Images.)

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin arm bumps with Japan's Defence Minister Nobuo Kishi as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Japan's Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi (R) look on after a joint press conference following their 2+2 meeting in Tokyo.

Recommended Reading

“Powering the Korean Peninsula: Economic and Strategic Considerations,” by CSIS’s Joseph Bermudez, Victor Cha, Marie DuMond, Jonathan E. Hillman, and Maesea McCalpin

This Town Tomorrow

Tomorrow, at 4:00 p.m., CSIS's Economics Program launches the second season of its Economy Disrupted series. In the first episode, hosts Matthew P. Goodman and Sarah Ladislaw speak with Asa Hutchinson, the governor of Arkansas.

Also, at 9:00 a.m., join the Stimson Center for the latest installment of its Views from the Next Generation series. Scholars will explore the current state of Japan-Taiwan relations and make recommendations for further developing the cooperative relationship.

Later, at noon, the Hudson Institute will host an online discussion on the future of antitrust and intellectual property rights in the United States and the European Union.

Video

In the latest episode of High Resolution, CSIS experts Victor Cha and Joseph S. Bermudez Jr. draw from satellite imagery to explain how the undisclosed Kal-gol missile operating base fits into North Korea's missile strategy. Watch the full video here.

Podcasts

Today's episode of Coronavirus Crisis Update features Helen Branswell, a senior writer covering infectious diseases at STAT. We discussed whether the joy, relief, and gratitude that millions are experiencing through Covid-19 vaccines generate gains in other disease areas as well as how to foster vaccine trust in those who are more skeptical.

Listen on Spotify, Google Podcasts, and Apple Podcasts.

Smiles

“Listening for the secret, searching for the sound
But I could only hear the preacher and the baying of his hounds.”

Grateful Dead co-founder Phil Lesh turned 81 on Monday, and more than two decades after Jerry Garcia’s untimely passing, he is still playing music and still going strong. If it hadn’t been for Covid, he would have headlined this year at the Lockn’ Festival and played his normal run of shows with Phil and Friends, not to mention local jams at Terrapin Crossroads, the restaurant/music club in Marin County that he owns. There is even a Terrapin Family Band that Phil plays with that was born at his club. It features his son Grahame Lesh, Ross James, Alex Koford, Jason Crosby, Nathan Graham and Elliott Peck—all incredible musicians in their own right.

To celebrate Phil’s 81st, the Terrapin Family Band got together to record a video performance of “Unbroken Chain,” a song Lesh wrote and sang for the Dead in ’74. The Terrapin Family conjured a musical alchemy rarely seen on video during the pandemic by adding a who’s who of Dead influenced and next gen Dead guest stars:

Mike Gordon, Joe Russo, Warren Haynes, John Scofield, Jeff Chimenti, Adam MacDougall, Stanley Jordan, Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams, Amy Helm, Nicki Bluhm, Karl Denson, Holly Bowling, Eric Krasno, Anders Osborne, Jackie Greene, Tom Hamilton, Luther Dickinson, Jon Graboff, Scott Law and Dan "Lebo" Lebowitz.

I can’t stop watching this video and I can’t stop smiling. Happy Birthday Phil: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxiGvmtkkhs.