The Evening: Biden Meets with Hostage Families, Climate Deal Reached, Blind Willie McTell, and More

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Good Evening,

It's Wednesday, December 13th.

Biden Meets with Hostage Families

The families of Americans still held hostage by Hamas in Gaza met with President Biden at the White House on Wednesday and said afterward that they believed the president and his administration were doing everything possible to secure freedom for their loved ones, as the NYT reports

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Climate Deal

Breaking a deadlock that had hindered climate talks for three decades, nations Wednesday struck a deal that calls for tackling the root cause of the climate crisis: fossil fuels, as The Washington Post reports

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Fed Holds Steady, Sees Cuts Next Year

The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady and signaled inflation had improved more rapidly than anticipated, opening the door to rate cuts next year, as the WSJ 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: "Lawmakers Will Need to Own the Consequences of Letting Section 702 Lapse

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" with CSIS's Emily Harding.

In That Number

$200 million

During Zelensky’s visit to Washington, the Pentagon announced that it would transfer to Ukraine another $200 million in ammunition and equipment, including artillery rounds and bullets.

Source: AP

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Critical Quote

“Humanity has finally done what is long, long, long overdue. Thirty years we’ve spent to arrive at the beginning of the end of fossil fuels.”

—Wopke Hoekstra, European Union’s climate commissioner

iDeas Lab

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Last month, CSIS's Benjamin Jensen testified before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet about intellectual property and strategic competition with China. Watch what he told Congress in about two minutes

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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: Fadel Dawod/Getty Images.) John Kerry, U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, and his Chinese counterpart, Xie Zhenhua, give a joint news conference on day thirteen of the COP28 Climate Conference on December 13, 2023, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Recommended Reading

“National Oil Companies, Climate Commitments, and Methane

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” by CSIS’s Ben Cahill and Kjersti Swanson.

This Town Tomorrow

At 1:00 p.m.

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, the CSIS Project on Prosperity and Development hosts a discussion analyzing public-private partnerships in food security and agriculture.

Then, at 2:00 p.m.

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, the CSIS International Security Program welcomes Ejup Maqedonci, Minister of Defense of the Republic of Kosovo, for a conversation on Kosovo's priorities amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Later, at 4:00 p.m.

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, the CSIS Americas Program examines the evolution of U.S. sanctions on Venezuela and the recent escalation over the Essequibo.

Video

The CSIS Global Food and Water Security Program launched its new publication, From the Ground Up: Demining Farmland and Improving Access to Fertilizer to Restore Ukraine’s Agricultural Production

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with a discussion on the role of Ukraine’s agricultural soils in supporting reconstruction. Watch the full video here.

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Podcasts

CSIS's Jon B. Alterman and Natasha Hall hosted Chatham House experts Renad Mansour and Farea al-Muslimi to discuss a recent Chatham House report, which argues that political settlements in the Middle East are prioritizing stability over accountability, leaving citizens to pay the costs.

Listen on Spotify

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& Apple Podcasts

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Smiles

Another Bob Dylan track that didn’t wind up on its intended album is “Blind Willie McTell,” a song Dylan recorded for 1983’s “Infidels.” “Blind Willie McTell” had been known mostly to Dylanologists before the Bootleg series, and since has become regarded as one of Dylan’s greatest songs. Named for the legendary blues singer of the same name, the song captures the primal core of the blues on this outtake version

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included in “Springtime in New York: The Bootleg Series Vol. 16, 1980-1985.”

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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