The Evening: U.S. GDP Rose, NK Lockdown, Ohio, and More

U.S. GDP Rose 2.9% in the Fourth Quarter After a Year of High Inflation 

The U.S. economy grew at a solid 2.9% annual rate last quarter but entered this year with less momentum as rising interest rates and still-high inflation weighed on demand, as the WSJ reports.

Deadly Russian strikes hit Ukraine

Ukrainian officials reported several Russian strikes, including in the capital and the regions of Vinnytsia and Odessa, which left at least 11 people dead and 11 injured, as The Washington Post reports.

North Korea Imposes Lockdown on Pyongyang to Fight ‘Recurrent Flu’

North Korea has imposed a five-day lockdown on its capital city as it battles an increase in “recurrent flu and other respiratory diseases” amid a cold spell, as the NYT reports.

Executive Education

Gain key insights on what the Biden administration's FY 2024 budget and strategy documents reveal about strategic priorities from CSIS experts and practitioners in the one-day course offering, Inside DOD's FY 2024 Budget. Participants will have a unique opportunity to dive deeply into how these changes will affect the defense enterprise, leaving with the most critical data and information for their own organizations. 

Video Shorts

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

In That Number

55

Ukraine’s military said 55 missiles had been launched by Russia at targets across the country on Thursday, 47 of which were brought down by its air defenses.

Source: WSJ

Critical Quote

“One thing is true: They [Iran] have amassed enough nuclear material for several nuclear weapons, not one at this point.”

— Rafael Mariano Grossi, director, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)

iDeas Lab

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Photo: iLab/CSIS

A new brief examines Russian conventional military capacity in the Arctic before and after the invasion of Ukraine.

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

Optics

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Photo: Sean Gallup/Getty Images

Photo: Sean Gallup/Getty Images

New German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius (L) rides on the back of a Puma infantry fighting vehicle during a visit with troops of Panzergrenadierbataillon 122, a mechanized infantry unit of the Bundeswehr, the German armed forces, at Altengrabow on January 26, 2023 near Moeckern, Germany.

Recommended Reading

The time has come for a major reset at the CDC” by The Washington Post Editorial Board.

This Town Tomorrow

At 9:00 a.m., CSIS’s Europe, Russia, and Eurasia Program hosts an event with Thierry Breton, commissioner for internal market of the European Union, on EU-U.S. cooperation.

Also at 9:00 a.m., CSIS’s Smart Women, Smart Power holds a conversation with Sandra Douglass Morgan, president of the Las Vegas Raiders, on the importance of sports teams engaging in local politics.

Later, at 10:00 a.m., Brookings hosts a discussion with retired U.S. army general Stanley McChrystal on the role that military history has played on his experiences as a soldier, commander, and strategist.

Video

This morning, CSIS’s Korea Chair hosted a conversation with Mr. Sydney Seiler, national intelligence officer for North Korea at the National Intelligence Council, on the 2023 security environment. Watch the full video here.

Podcasts

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Photo: CSIS

CSIS’s Joseph Majkut and Leslie Palti-Guzman joined the podcast to discuss U.S. Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) production and exports, and what it all means for the world.  

Listen on Spotify Apple Podcasts

Smiles

"Finally, on David Crosby, I can tell you that he loved his later years role as an inspiration to young musicians"

On my podcast, The Truth of the Matter, I interviewed one of Crosby’s closest friends, the author Steve Silberman, who told me so unequivocally. That podcast will be live shortly, wherever you listen to podcasts.
 
The clip below is from the Newport Folk Festival in 2018, when Crosby took the stage with Jason Isbell and his band, the 400 Unit, along with singer-songwriter and fiddle player Amanda Shires, for a rousing version of the CSNY classic, “Ohio.” It’s such a quintessentially American setting at Newport, and you can see the sailboats cruising by and the American flag flying above in the breeze.

​​​​​This clip gives me chills and it’s a fitting way to say goodbye to the singular, incomparable David Crosby.

I invite you to email me at aschwartz@csis.org and follow me on Twitter @handrewschwartz