Humanitarian Islands

Israel’s military intends to direct a “significant” portion of Rafah’s population of 1.4 million toward “humanitarian islands” in central Gaza ahead of Israel’s planned ground offensive, as The Washington Post reports.

Schumer Calls For New Israeli Leadership

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) on Thursday delivered a pointed speech on the Senate floor excoriating Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel as a major obstacle to peace in the Middle East and calling for new leadership in Israel, five months into the war, as the NYT reports.

Biden Opposition to Nippon Steel

President Biden’s decision to oppose Nippon Steel’s attempt to buy United States Steel on Thursday was the culmination of months of agitation against the deal, as the WSJ reports.

Executive Education

Looking to unpack the defense priorities of FY25 without needing to decrypt complicated jargon and dig through lengthy reports? Join CSIS experts on April 16 for Inside DOD’s FY 2025 Budget to explore the most important strategic priorities, acquisition program changes and major budget movements for your organization. Register here by April 2.

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: "Government Use of Deepfakes: The Questions to Ask" with CSIS's Daniel Byman.

In That Number

80 percent

Putin is expected to win Russia's presidential election by at least 80 percent, cementing his legacy and allowing him to claim massive support for Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Source: The Washington Post

Critical Quote

“I believe in his heart, his highest priority is the security of Israel. However, I also believe Prime Minister Netanyahu has lost his way by allowing his political survival to take precedence over the best interests of Israel.”

—Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY)

iDeas Lab

China has dozens of commercial shipyards that are significantly larger than the biggest U.S. shipyards in size and throughput, allowing China to increasingly challenge U.S. dominance, threaten U.S. interests outside of Asia, and potentially prevail in a war of attrition at sea. Read the full CSIS analysis 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: Stringer/AFP/Getty Images.) A member of a local election commission, accompanied by a serviceman, visits voters during early voting in Russia's presidential election in Donetsk, Russian-controlled Ukraine, on March 14, 2024.

This Town Upcoming

Tomorrow, at 10:00 a.m., the CSIS Global Health Policy Center and the CSIS Diversity and Leadership in International Affairs Project discuss U.S. international engagement on gender.

On Monday, at 11:00 a.m., the CSIS Korea Chair unpacks the relationship between North Korea and Russia with Deputy Assistant Secretary Dr. Jung H. Pak.

Also on Monday, at 2:00 p.m., the CSIS Americas Program welcomes industry leaders from across Latin America and the United States to talk about prospects, trends, and challenges for enhanced business-to-business collaboration.

Video

Today, the CSIS Transnational Threats Program welcomed Robin Simcox, Commissioner for Countering Extremism at the United Kingdom Home Office, to discuss trends in extremism and the state of counterterrorism. Watch the full video here.

Podcasts

Admiral Jim Stravidis and award-winning author Elliot Ackerman join the podcast to discuss their new novel, “2054,” which explores where the United States could find itself in the middle of this century.

Listen on Spotify & Apple Podcasts.

Smiles

It’s hard to believe but Willie Nelson will release his 75th solo album, “The Border,” on May 31st. To get out ahead of it, Nelson has posted the vivid title track of the album.

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.