Aid Package Signed

President Biden signed a $95.3 billion package of aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan on Wednesday, reaffirming U.S. support for Kyiv in the fight against Russia’s military assault after months of congressional gridlock, as the NYT reports.

Gradual Offensive

Israel is moving ahead with plans for a military offensive to take Rafah, the last remaining Hamas stronghold in Gaza, but has responded to U.S. and international pressure by scrapping plans for an all-out assault in favor of a more gradual approach that seeks to limit civilian casualties, as the WSJ reports.

China Visit

Amid growing U.S. worries that Russia’s war on Ukraine is being made possible by Chinese support for Moscow’s defense industry, Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in China on Wednesday on a three-day mission to push leaders to cut ties with the Kremlin, as The Washington Post reports.

Executive Education

Security, sustainability, and supply chains are all key factors in the conversation around critical minerals. Join CSIS experts in Building Critical Mineral Security for a Sustainable Future to explore how we can secure access to natural resources essential to national, economic, and energy security. Register here by 12:00AM ET tonight.

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: "Back in Stock? The State of Russia's Defense Industry after Two Years of the War" with CSIS's Maria Snegovaya.

In That Number

9 Months

The U.S. Senate has approved a bill that could see TikTok banned in America over national security fears. It gives TikTok's Chinese owner, ByteDance, nine months to sell its stake or the app will be blocked in the United States.
Source: BBC

Critical Quote

“It’s a good day for world peace. It’s going to make America safer, it’s going to make the world safer, and it continues America’s leadership in the world and everyone knows it.”

—President Joe Biden

iDeas Lab

New CSIS analysis confirms a significant shift has occurred in the composition of Russia’s trading partners for key military goods, with direct prewar Western suppliers mostly being replaced by Chinese suppliers as well as shell companies located in Hong Kong, Turkey, India, and Vietnam, among others. Read the latest 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: CSIS.) General Charles Q. Brown Jr., Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, discusses the strategic environment, global force management and defense planning, and the defense industrial base and innovation in keynote remarks on April 24, 2024, at the CSIS 2024 Global Security Forum in Washington, DC.

This Town Tomorrow

At 10:00 a.m., the CSIS Wadhwani Center for AI and Advanced Technologies discusses the African Union’s AU-AI Continental Strategy for Africa and the wider African AI ecosystem.

Then, at 1:30 p.m., the Atlantic Council holds a conversation on the Secure by Design (SBD) initiative from the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

Later, at 3:00 p.m., Brookings hosts a discussion on the transformative impact of AI on labor markets.

Video

Today, the CSIS International Security Program hosted General Charles Q. Brown Jr., Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, at the 2024 Global Security Forum. Gen. Brown sat down with CSIS's Kari Bingen to discuss global force coordination and defense strategizing. Watch the full video here.

Podcasts

On the latest Smart Women Smart Power episode, Admiral Lisa Franchetti, Chief of Naval Operations of the U.S. Navy, joins CSIS's Dr. Kathleen McInnis to discuss the U.S. Navy's global priorities, from sea to space.

Listen on Spotify & Apple Podcasts.

Smiles

The annual New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival is upon us beginning Thursday. If you aren’t going this year, you can stream some of it live via WWOZ, the New Orleans listener-supported radio—AKA the best radio station on earth. This time of year, I always look back at some of the past performances that blew my socks off. This one from last year featuring Mumford & Sons, Trombone Shorty, Jon Batiste. and Celisse is one of the greatest.

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.