The Evening: Saleh Killed, Jerusalem, Whole Lotta Shakin Going On and More
December 4, 2017
Good Evening,
It's Monday, December 4th.
Former Yemeni President Killed
Former President Ali Abdullah Saleh was killed on Monday after the collapse of his alliance with the Houthi rebels controlling the capital, opening a new chapter in a conflict that is part of the regional power struggle between Saudi Arabia and Iran, as WSJ reports.
Dive Deeper: Read Tony Cordesman’s commentary, “Saleh and the War in Yemen.”
And, see this interactive timeline from CSIS Missile Defense Project: The Missile War in Yemen.
Recognizing Jerusalem
Arab nations and Palestinian officials have warned of dire consequences if the United States recognizes Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, including potential unrest and an end to the peace process, amid last-minute lobbying to prevent President Trump from making the move, as the Washington Post reports.
And, for more than two decades, successive U.S. presidents have signed a waiver every six months that allows them to delay a move of the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem on national security grounds. President Trump has until Dec. 4 to sign the waiver.
Biggest-Ever Air Drill with SK
The United States and South Korean air forces began their biggest-ever joint drill Monday, carrying out simulated strikes using 230 aircraft over South Korea, as Newsweek reports.
NYT reported the drills would include some of the military’s most sophisticated and powerful aircraft such as B1-B lancer bombers and stealth F-35 Lightning II fighters and F-22 Raptors. It is South Korea's largest deployment of stealth-fighter warplanes ever.
In That Number
69%
Percentage of Americans who believe that news organizations “keep political leaders from doing things that shouldn’t be done.”
Source: “You’re Fake News: The 2017 Poyneter Media Trust Survey.”
Critical Quote
“While Kim Jong-un is rational, how can he have a clear understanding of consequences of his decisions/actions when no adviser around him can tell him he might be wrong about something?”
iDeas Lab
Yemen’s humanitarian crisis has been compounded and accelerated by attacks on the health care sector. Chapter 4 of The New Barbarianism, “Yemen’s Cage,” takes an on-the-ground look at the struggles of those inside the war-ravaged country—acute malnutrition, a rising famine, an outbreak of cholera, and over half of the population with no access to health services.
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: Mohammed Huwais/AFP/Getty Images.) Huthi rebel fighters are pictured atop a tank in front of the residence of Yemen’s former president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, in Sanaa today.
Recommended Reading
A new series by the CSIS Defense 360 team called the “Bad Ideas in National Security.” The lead-off piece by Todd Harrison is “Bad Idea: Cutting the Military Housing Allowance.”
This Town Tomorrow
The CSIS Project on Nuclear Issues will host the “PONI 2017 Winter Conference,” featuring presentations from nuclear experts and a mock trial scenario examining nuclear terrorism.
At 2:00 p.m., CSIS’s Simon Chair in Political Economy will host a conversation with Dani Rodrik on his new book, Straight Talk on Trade: Ideas for a Sane World Economy .
And, at 4:00 p.m., join the Wilson Center for a conversation on the importance of equal representation in international law.
Video
Today, CSIS hosted “Security in the Maghreb,” a discussion on terrorism in the region, with a keynote address by Representative Gerry Connolly (R-VA).
Sounds
China’s political influence stretches beyond its borders, as it seeks to shape both public opinion and domestic policy in countries around the world. The newest episode of ChinaPower explores the various methods China uses to influence policy worldwide.
Listen on SoundCloud or Apple Podcasts.
Smiles
One of my favorite Evening readers took me to school last week. “Did you know that there was rock and roll in the 1950s?” he asked with a smile. It’s true, the majority of my Evening Smiles come from 1968 to the present. But I do love rock’s pioneers.
Jerry Lee Lewis, a.k.a “The Killer” absolutely destroys me every time I listen to or watch one of his incendiary performances. The Beatles changed the world when they appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964. However, it must have been quite a revelation seven years earlier to see The Killer tear up the stage on Steve Allen’s program. What a smile!
I invite you to email me at aschwartz@csis.org and follow me on Twitter @handrewschwartz
