Good Evening,
It's Tuesday, April 9th. |
Iran Smuggles Arms to West Bank
Iran is operating a clandestine smuggling route across the Middle East, employing intelligence operatives, militants and criminal gangs, to deliver weapons to Palestinians in the West Bank, according to officials from the United States, Israel, and Iran, as the NYT reports. |
Gaza Aid In Progress
Israel has started to take steps demanded by President Biden to speed aid to civilians in Gaza and to ensure the safety of aid workers, but “this is a work very much in progress,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday, expressing measured optimism that Israeli leaders appeared to be moving in response to White House warnings that U.S. aid to Israel could be on the line without changes to operations in the embattled territory, as The Washington Post reports. |
Russia and China Double Down on Defying U.S.
Russia and China have pledged to deepen their growing alliance and shared opposition to what they describe as the U.S.’s attempts to dominate the world order, with Moscow again seeking to boost trade with Beijing as it looks for new ways to bypass the Western sanctions imposed for its war on Ukraine, as the WSJ reports. |
Executive Education
Rethink innovation. Examine the opportunities and challenges facing the world of science, technology, and industry through the lens of global competition in Renewing the U.S. Innovation System, held at CSIS on April 18. Register here by April 11. |
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: "China’s Food Security: Key Challenges and Emerging Policy Responses" with CSIS's Lily McElwee. |
In That Number
468
COGAT, the Israeli agency responsible for coordinating aid deliveries into Gaza, said 468 trucks with humanitarian aid had entered Gaza on Tuesday, the largest number since the outbreak of the conflict.
Source: The Washington Post |
Critical Quote
“This victory requires entry into Rafah and the elimination of the terrorist battalions there. It will happen—there is a date.”
—Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu |
iDeas Lab
 Wargaming conducted by the CSIS Futures Lab revealed a prevailing assessment that compromising people’s basic needs could make the population at large more susceptible to dis- and misinformation campaigns, thereby opening up additional vectors for foreign manipulation and radicalization. Read the latest edition of the
On Future War series.
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: Win McNamee/Getty Images.) U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and UK Foreign Minister David Cameron shake hands after speaking at a joint press conference at the State Department on April 9, 2024 in Washington, DC.![]() ![]() ![]() |
Recommended Reading
“Eroding Trust in Government: What Games, Surveys, and Scenarios Reveal about Alternative Cyber Futures” by Yasir Atalan, Benjamin Jensen, and Jose M. Macias III. |
This Town Tomorrow
At 9:00 a.m., the CSIS China Power Project hosts a discussion on Taiwan’s recent presidential election and China’s continuous attempts to influence the outcome.
Later, at 10:30 a.m., the CSIS Africa Program unpacks Senegal's recent presidential election and the victory of President-Elect Bassirou Diomaye Faye.
Earlier, at 10:00 a.m., Brookings welcomes H.E. Wamkele Mene, Secretary-General of the African Continental Free Trade Area, to discuss the progress, challenges, and strategies for using the AfCFTA to increase global investments in Africa. |
Video
Today, CSIS hosted the 2024 LeadershIP conference, where industry experts and policy leaders discussed IP and AI, the geopolitics of technology, how IP impacts national security, and more. Watch the full video here. |
Podcasts
The latest episode of the AI Policy Podcast discusses the framework for understanding the rapidly changing AI policy landscape, U.S. and UK partnership on AI safety, and more.
Listen on Spotify & Apple Podcasts. |
Smiles
I remember waiting like life depended on it for Pearl Jam’s second album to drop. “Vs.” with its ominous, aggressive title, hit stores in late October 1993. It was the follow-up to Pearl Jam’s groundbreaking smash hit first record, “Ten.” When I got my hands on a copy of “Vs.” nothing was going to happen until I listened to it all the way through. As it turned out, I probably listened to it five times consecutively.
Pearl Jam and producer Brendan O’Brien knew exactly what they were doing with this album. Just listen to the first two songs on the record, “Go” and “Animal” and tell me it doesn’t stop you in your tracks. |
| I invite you to email me at [email protected] and follow me on Twitter @handrewschwartz |
