The Evening: Zelensky’s Challenge, Iranian Elections, Shakedown Street, and More

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Good Evening,

It's Tuesday, May 21st.

Zelensky’s Challenge

With his army struggling to fend off fierce Russian advances all across the front, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine urged the United States and Europe to do more to defend his nation, dismissing fears of nuclear escalation and proposing that NATO planes shoot down Russian missiles in Ukrainian airspace, as the NYT reports

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EU Sets New Precedent on Russia Assets

On Tuesday, the European Union made a precedent-setting move, formally agreeing to use windfall profits from frozen Russian assets to buy arms for Kyiv, as The Washington Post reports

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Iranian Election

In wake of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s death, Iran’s political establishment must choose between opening the race and facing moderate rivals or limiting candidates and risking the embarrassment of low turnout, as the NYT reports

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Executive Education

Assess. Adapt. Achieve. Explore how to leverage scenario testing and alternative analysis tools in your decision making in Building Better Strategies with AI, Red Teaming, and Gaming

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. Learn to enhance your strategic planning with time-tested gaming and red teaming techniques and powerful new generative AI tools in-person or virtually from June 10–13. Register here

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by May 27.

Audio Briefs

CSIS now offers full audio versions of our latest analysis. Listen to CSIS's Jon B. Alterman's latest Critical Questions, "The Impacts of Raisi's Death

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In That Number

950,000

Israel’s military said that more than 950,000 civilians in Rafah had relocated since it gave expanded evacuation orders.

Source: NYT

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Critical Quote

“Shoot down what’s in the sky over Ukraine. And give us the weapons to use against Russian forces on the borders.”

—Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky

iDeas Lab

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Ambassador Filipo Tarakinikini, Ambassador of Fiji to the United Nations, joined Kathryn Paik to discuss his visit to DC, his top priorities at the UN, and the impacts of climate change on Pacific Islands countries. Watch the full video here.

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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: Iranian Presidency/Handout/Anadolu/Getty Images.) Officials pay their respects with solemn salutes as the bodies of President Ibrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hussein Amir-Abdollahian, and other officials who lost their lives in a helicopter crash in Iran are brought to Mehrabad Airport in Tehran, Iran, on May 21, 2024.

Recommended Reading

“Intelligence Advantage: Profiling African Leaders’ Meetings with U.S. Presidents

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” by CSIS's Judd Devermont.

This Town Tomorrow

At 10:00 a.m.

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, the CSIS Langone chair in American Leadership welcomes Major General Arnold Punaro, USMC (Ret.), former Staff Director of the Senate Armed Service Committee, to discuss his new book IF CONFIRMED: An Insider's View of the National Security Confirmation Process.

Later, at 3:00 p.m.

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, the CSIS Americas Program invites Admiral Larry LeGree, Deputy Director of the JIATF-S narcotics task force, to discuss U.S. counter-narcotics operations and national security threats from the drug trade.

Earlier, at 10:50 a.m.

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, the Atlantic Council hosts a conversation featuring General CQ Brown, Jr., Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to discuss the challenges the joint force faces today and what to expect in the years ahead.

Video

Last Week, CSIS’s Emily Harding sat down with Eng. John Tanui, Principal Secretary of Kenya's Ministry of Information, Communications, and the Digital Economy, to discuss cybersecurity trends in Kenya and the nation's role as a regional leader in the space. Watch the full video here.

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Podcasts

Dr. Angela Apeagyei and Dr. Chris Murray from IHME join the podcast to unpack the findings of the 15th annual IHME report, "Financing Global Health 2023," and discuss the future risks for global health.

Listen on Spotify

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& Apple Podcasts

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Smiles

I was talking with an extremely knowledgeable Deadhead last night about Dead & Company’s residency in Las Vegas at the Sphere. We both agreed that a visit to Vegas would be fun. But then, this learned Deadhead remarked, “Dead & Company are cool, but they aren’t the real thing.” Indeed, they are not. No matter how good the current iteration of the Dead is, the real thing is unsurpassed

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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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