The Evening: Iran Missile Strikes, Chinese Lab Withheld Covid Details, Space Oddity, and More

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Good Evening,

It's Wednesday, January 17th.

Iran Missile Strikes

After striking targets in neighboring Pakistan, Iraq, and Syria this week, Iran underscored its determination to strike enemies at will, as the NYT reports

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Pathway to Palestinian State

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that Israel cannot achieve “genuine security” without a pathway to a Palestinian state, which could also help unify the Middle East and isolate Iran, as the AP reports

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Chinese Lab Mapped Deadly Coronavirus Weeks Before Beijing Told the World

Chinese researchers isolated and mapped the virus that causes Covid-19 in late December 2019, at least two weeks before Beijing revealed details of the deadly virus to the world, congressional investigators said, raising questions anew about what China knew in the pandemic’s crucial early days, as the WSJ reports

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Executive Education

Ready to take the next step towards policy success in Washington? Join CSIS experts March 18-21, 2024, at CSIS Headquarters for "Decoding D.C.: Policy, Power, and People

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," to unlock the secrets to thriving in the capital's unique policy landscape. Register here

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by March 4.

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: "The Geopolitical Promise of New Zealand’s Conservative Swing

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" with CSIS's Kathryn Paik.

In That Number

2.08 million

China’s population dropped by 2.08 million over the past year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. The declining number of newborns over the past several years is a persistent constraint on economic growth.

Source: WSJ

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Critical Quote

“We are a missile power in the world. Wherever they want to threaten the Islamic Republic of Iran, we will react, and this reaction will definitely be proportionate, tough and decisive.”

—Mohammad Reza Ashtiani, Minister of Defense of Iran

iDeas Lab

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North Korea tends to ramp up provocations in U.S. election years. New CSIS analysis

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finds the average number of provocations between January 1 of a major U.S. election year through the State of the Union speech by the elected or reelected president the following year has increased by 375 percent during the Kim Jong-un regime.

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: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images.) Jonathan Polin, father of Israeli hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, joined by other relatives of hostages abducted by Hamas, speaks during a press conference with a bipartisan group of senators on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on January 17, 2024.

Recommended Reading

“Can a Regional War Be Avoided in the Middle East?

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” by CSIS’s Daniel Byman and Seth G. Jones.

This Town Tomorrow

At 10:00 a.m.

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, the CSIS Project on Nuclear Issues unpacks the Biden administration’s arms control agenda, including updates on U.S.-Russia and U.S-China engagement.

Later, at 12:30 p.m.

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, AEI discusses policy proposals to change intellectual-property protections and their implications.

Then, at 1:00 p.m.

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, the Atlantic Council hosts a discussion on the factors, trends, and uncertainties that will shape the decade to come.

Video

Today, the CSIS Arleigh A. Burke Chair and International Security Program discussed their recent trip to Israel and implications of a wider regional conflict. Watch the full video here.

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Podcasts

CSIS's Kathleen McInnis is joined by Colonel Sarah Heer to discuss her experience commanding Operation Unifier in September 2020, where, alongside Canadian soldiers, she helped train Ukrainian soldiers.

Listen on Spotify

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& Apple Podcasts

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Smiles

Who says that cool new music doesn’t come out all the time—even if it is a reinterpretation of a classic? Here’s Wilco last week covering David Bowie’s “Space Oddity

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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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