The Evening: Zelensky Pleads for Aid, Israel Begins Pumping Seawater in Hamas Tunnels, Angelina, and More

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Good Evening,

It's Tuesday, December 12th.

Zelensky Pleads for Aid

President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine hit a brick wall of resistance from congressional Republicans on Tuesday as he made an urgent plea for quick approval of more aid for his country’s war against Russian invaders, an inauspicious start to a day of meetings on Capitol Hill and at the White House, as the NYT reports

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Israel Begins Pumping Seawater Into Hamas’s Gaza Tunnels

Israel’s military has begun pumping seawater into Hamas’s vast complex of tunnels in Gaza, part of an intensive effort to destroy the underground infrastructure that has underpinned the group’s operations, as the WSJ reports

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China’s Cyber Army Is Invading Critical U.S. Services

The Chinese military is ramping up its ability to disrupt key American infrastructure, including power and water utilities as well as communications and transportation systems, as The Washington Post reports

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Executive Education

Taiwan in the Balance

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is an opportunity to gain a comprehensive framework for understanding the dynamics at play in one of the world’s most dangerous flashpoints. With this 1.5-day course, go beyond the headlines to explore the latest trends and developments impacting cross-Strait relations and heightened tensions in the region.

Audio Briefs

CSIS experts give short, spoken-word summaries on the biggest takeaways from their latest reports, white papers, and commentaries—in their own words.

Listen here: "From the Ground Up: Demining Farmland and Improving Access to Fertilizer to Restore Ukraine’s Agricultural Production

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" with CSIS's Caitlin Welsh.

In That Number

90%

The war in Ukraine has devastated Russia’s preinvasion military machine, with nearly 90% of its prewar army lost to death or injury, and thousands of battle tanks destroyed, according to a newly declassified U.S. intelligence assessment shared with Congress.

Source: WSJ

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Critical Quote

“It is very clear that Chinese attempts to compromise critical infrastructure are in part to pre-position themselves to be able to disrupt or destroy that critical infrastructure in the event of a conflict, to either prevent the United States from being able to project power into Asia or to cause societal chaos inside the United States—to affect our decision-making around a crisis.”

—Brandon Wales, executive director of the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)

iDeas Lab​​​​​​

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On December 10th, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights turned 75 years old. CSIS's Marti Flacks discusses the significance of this milestone and ongoing efforts to defend human rights across the globe. Watch what's happening with human rights here.

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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: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images.) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and U.S. President Joe Biden shake hands while meeting in the Oval Office at the White House on December 12, 2023, in Washington, DC.

Recommended Reading

"From the Ground Up: Demining Farmland and Improving Access to Fertilizer to Restore Ukraine’s Agricultural Production

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" by Caitlin Welsh, Emma Dodd, Vitalii Dankevych, Joseph Glauber, and Antonina Broyaka.

This Town Tomorrow

At 9:00 a.m.

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, the CSIS Global Food and Water Security Program examines the role of Ukraine’s agricultural soils in supporting reconstruction throughout its agriculture sector.

Then, at 3:00 p.m.

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, the CSIS Energy Security and Climate Change Program hosts a discussion on the role of national oil companies in reducing global methane emissions.

Earlier, at 10:00 a.m.

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, AEI holds a conversation on dollarization in Argentina.

Video

Today, CSIS hosted Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-CA) for a discussion examining the role of intellectual property in technological innovation and geopolitical competition today, moderated by CSIS President and CEO Dr. John J. Hamre. Watch the full video here.

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Podcasts

This week, CSIS's Ilaria Mazzocco joins the podcast for a conversation on how China achieved leadership in green energy technologies and the tradeoffs in “de-risking” from China in this industry.

Listen on Spotify

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and Apple Podcasts

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Smiles

In the valley of the giants

Where the stars and stripes explode

The peaches they were sweet

And the milk and honey flowed

I was only following instructions

When the judge sent me down the road

With your subpoena

I’ve been thinking about Bob Dylan’s lesser known songs lately—the gems that have been released in his Bootleg Series, which is now 17 volumes worth of material. Many of the Bootleg tunes had not been previously released, are studio outtakes, or rarities and live tracks. For the rest of this week, I’m going to play some of my favorites.

The last four Dylan Bootleg releases are my favorites: "Vol. 13: Trouble No More, 1979-1981," "Vol. 14: More Blood, More Tracks," "Vol. 15: Travelin’ Thru, 1967-1969," "Vol. 16: Springtime in New York, 1980-1985," and "Vol. 17: Fragments – The Time Out Of Mind Sessions (1996-1997)." I also love "Vol 5: Live 1975, The Rolling Thunder Review." Most of my Dylan listening nowadays days revolves around these collections.

The opening track of "Vol. 16: Springtime in New York, 1980-1985," "Angelina

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," is an outtake from Dylan’s poorly received 1981 record "Shot of Love." How this song wasn’t included on the album is a mystery. I think it’s one of Dylan’s best songs. Period.

I invite you to email me at [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

and follow me on Twitter @handrewschwartz

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The Evening is my daily guide to key insights CSIS brings to the events of the day. It is composed by Lauren Adler, Ava Rose, and the External Relations team.

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Connect w/ H. Andrew Schwartz



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