The Evening: Emergency Spending, Taliban Airstrike, Melissa and More
March 4, 2020
House Passes $8.3 Billion Emergency Coronavirus Package
The House approved an $8.3 billion emergency funding package to combat the rapidly spreading coronavirus, capping a chaotic several days of partisan feuding over vaccine affordability, as Politico’s Caitlin Emma and Sara Ferris report.
Taliban Ramp Up Attacks
The Taliban have resumed attacks against Afghan forces soon after signing a deal to end their war with the U.S. military, raising concerns that the Americans are leaving their Afghan allies vulnerable to an insurgency unwilling to let go of violence as its main leverage, as the NYT’s Najim Rahim and Mujib Mashal report.
Meanwhile, as Reuters reports, the United States on Wednesday carried out its first air strike on Taliban fighters in Afghanistan since the two sides signed a troop withdrawal agreement on Saturday
Dive Deeper: “Afghanistan at Peace or Afghanistan in Pieces – Part One: The First Phase,” by CSIS’s Anthony Cordesman.
Netanyahu Falls Short of Majority
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s party won the most parliamentary seats in Israel’s national election on Monday—the country’s third in less than a year—but his right-wing bloc fell short of a majority, leaving no clear winner and raising the specter of a fourth election, as the WSJ’s Felicia Schwartz and Dov Lieber report.
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Video Shorts
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In That Number
$12 Billion
The World Bank has committed $12 billion in aid for developing countries grappling with the spread of the coronavirus.
Source: BBC
Critical Quote
“We call on the Taliban to stop needless attacks and uphold their commitments.”
— Colonel Sonny Leggett, spokesman for U.S. Forces, Afghanistan
iDeas Lab
A new CSIS PreView explainer highlights the CSIS ChinaPower Project report, "Charting Convergence," which explores opportunities for the U.S. and Taiwan to collectively promote peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific.
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: Julia Kim/CSIS). Julie L. Gerberding, Co-Chair of the CSIS Commission on Strengthening America’s Health Security, testified today before the U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security on “Confronting the Coronavirus: Perspectives on the Response to a Pandemic Threat.”
Recommended Reading
“The seeds of the next debt crisis,” by the FT’s John Plender
This Town Tomorrow
At 11:00 a.m., CSIS will host a conversation with NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine on the strategic implications of NASA’s Moon to Mars plan.
And, at 12:00 p.m., CSIS will host a press call on the global impacts of the coronavirus, where various experts will discuss how the outbreak is affecting their area of study.
Also, at 10:30 a.m., the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace will host Pakistani ambassador-at-large Ali Jehangir Siddiqui for a discussion about Pakistan-U.S. business ties in the context of the U.S. Taliban negotiations.
Video
CSIS’s International Security Program released the first video in its new series “Ahead of the Game.” In this video, CSIS experts Shaan Shaikh, Lindsey Sheppard, and Todd Harrison explain how their prescient research on technology predicted real-world events, and what could be coming next. Watch the video here.
Podcasts
I sat down with CSIS International Security Program expert Sam Brannen to discuss his new report on the decade-long trends of mass political protests around the world.
Listen on Spotify & Apple Podcasts.
Smiles
The southern rock country roots vibe is keeping me smiling this week.