U.S. to Build Pier to Allow Aid Into Gaza by Sea

President Biden will announce in his State of the Union on Thursday that he is ordering the U.S. military to build a floating pier off Gaza, in what the White House called an “emergency mission” that would allow hundreds of truckloads of additional aid to be delivered by sea to Gazans, as the NYT reports.

Espionage Probe Finds Communications Device on Chinese Cranes at U.S. Ports

A congressional probe of Chinese-built cargo cranes deployed at ports throughout the U.S. has found communications equipment that doesn’t appear to support normal operations, fueling concerns that the foreign machines may pose a covert national-security risk, as the WSJ reports.

Sweden Joins NATO

Sweden officially joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization on Thursday, a historic shift that highlights how Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine is transforming European security, as The Washington Post reports.

Executive Education

Are you ready to rethink risk? From April 3-5, join CSIS experts for Red Teaming: Alternative Analysis and Risk Assessments for a Changing World to explore techniques for exposing and overcoming weaknesses in your organization. Register here by March 22.

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: "Rebuilding the Arsenal of Democracy" with CSIS's Seth G. Jones.

In That Number

15,000

Violent gang attacks have paralyzed Haiti's capital of Port-au-Prince, leaving more than 15,000 people homeless.
Source: AP

Critical Quote

“We have a responsibility to do everything we can do to enable the Haitian people to find a consensus and to find a path that is Haitian-led and Haitian-owned in bringing together a level of stability and normalcy that the Haitian people so richly deserve.”

—Guyanese President Irfaan Ali

iDeas Lab

Satellite imagery shows that China’s Changxhing Shipbuilding base has roughly doubled in size over the past 16 years, as China ramps up defense industrial production. Read CSIS's latest report, Rebuilding the Arsenal of Democracy, here.

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: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images.) U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken receives the NATO ratification documents from Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson at the U.S. State Department, as Sweden formally joins NATO, on March 7, 2024.

This Town Upcoming

Tomorrow, at 10:00 a.m., the CSIS International Security Program discusses reforming the Department of Defense's planning, programming, budgeting, and execution process.

Also tomorrow, at 11:00 a.m., the CSIS Global Food and Water Security Program unpacks the unequal impacts of climate change on rural women in agriculture.

On Monday, at 4:00 p.m., the CSIS Australia Chair welcomes the Australian, British, and U.S. army chiefs for a conversation on AUKUS Pillar 2.

Video

Today, the CSIS Project on Prosperity and Development welcomed the ambassadors from Kazakhstan and Zambia to discuss partnership and influence in the 21st century's geopolitical landscape. Watch the full video here.

Podcasts

CSIS's Caitlin Welsh joins the podcast to discuss the impacts of Russia’s war in Ukraine on global food security and on Ukraine’s agriculture sector.

Listen on Spotify & Apple Podcasts.

Smiles

The Tedeschi Trucks Band has been in DC the past couple of nights at the Warner Theatre. I’ve been hearing from all my DC and New York friends that this is the band to go see. So tonight, I am! Here’s a great clip of the band with special guest Trey Anastasio.

I invite you to email me at [email protected] and follow me on Twitter @handrewschwartz

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.