WHO Responds

The director of the World Health Organization said he is “reviewing the impact on our work of any withdrawal of U.S. funding” after President Trump on Tuesday said he intends to halt payments to the U.N. agency. Close U.S. allies on Wednesday said they disagreed with the move and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Trump’s decision is “dangerous, illegal and will be swiftly challenged.” Meanwhile, Worldwide confirmed coronavirus cases surpassed 2 million, though experts caution that the virus has in all likelihood infected far more people, as the Washington Post reports.

Dive Deeper: CSIS’s Victor Cha today spoke with NBC’s Andrea Mitchell on what the U.S. can learn from South Korea in its Covid-19 response.

Victor also joined CSIS’s Steve Morrison on The Truth of the Matter podcast to talk about South Korea’s response.

Germany Eases Lockdown

Germany has achieved a “fragile intermediate success” in its the fight against the coronavirus and will take small steps out of lockdown with the partial reopening of shops next week and schools from May 4, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday, as Reuters reports.

China’s Secret Nuclear Test

China might be secretly conducting nuclear tests with very low explosive power despite Beijing’s assertions that it is strictly adhering to an international accord banning all nuclear tests, according to a new arms-control report to be made public by the State Department, as the WSJ’s Michael Gordon reports.

On the Horizon

China’s technology ambitions appeared imperiled by Covid-19, but the pandemic is already providing new opportunities for China’s rise as a technology power and global provider of digital infrastructure, write CSIS's Jude Blanchette and Jonathan Hillman.

CSIS’s “On the Horizon” series offers insights into the more fundamental changes we might anticipate for our future social and economic world as a consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic.

CSIS Executive Education

We invite you to apply to Unpacking the Defense Enterprise, a a three-day live, online course exploring defense strategy, budgetary and technical issues, and future challenges and opportunities in the U.S. defense enterprise.

Video Shorts

Check out CSIS’s new series of video shorts: “Testify,” "What's Happening," "Preview," and “High Resolution.” And don’t forget to subscribe to the CSIS YouTube Channel!

In That Number

8.7%

Retail sales, a measure of purchases at stores, gasoline stations, restaurants, bars and online, fell by a seasonally adjusted 8.7% in March from a month earlier, the biggest month-over-month decline since the records began in 1992.

Source: WSJ

Critical Quote

“WHO has been a long-term and still is a great partner for us. We’re going to continue to do all we can together to try to limit this.”

— Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

iDeas Lab

Even before the threat of COVID-19 to South Africans’ health and economic wellbeing, South Africa had an ongoing public health crisis. CSIS Global Health Policy Center examines why the world’s largest HIV epidemic persists in South Africa.

The Andreas C. Dracopoulos iDeas Lab at CSIS enhances our research with the latest in cutting-edge web technologies, design, and video.

Optics

(Photo credit: Christian Marquardt/Getty Images). German Chancellor Angela Merkel informs the press about the latest measures of the government in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, including new efforts to re-open the economy.

Online Events

Tomorrow, at 4:00 p.m., CSIS will host on online event, "the Implications of Growing US-China Friction: Perspectives from East Asia."

And, at 8:00 a.m., the Atlantic Council will host a virtual conversation with the NATO Deputy General, Mircea Geoană.

Later, at 1:oo p.m., the Wilson Center will host a conversation on the coronavirus response in Colombia.

Video

While Japan is no stranger to natural disasters, its response to Covid-19 has been mixed at best. CSIS Japan Chair Mike Green explains why Japan has struggled to contain the spread of the coronavirus. Watch the full video here.

Podcasts

In a new episode of The Truth of the Matter, I speak with CSIS Korea Chair Victor Cha and CSIS Global Health Policy Center director Steve Morrison about using technology for Covid-19 contact tracing to reopen the American economy.

Listen on Spotify & Apple Podcasts.

Smiles

I’m so glad you all enjoyed last night’s version of “Uncle John’s Band.” The Grateful Dead have been rolling out historic footage for the past few weeks in order to raise money for Music Cares Covid-19 Relief. Last week they re-broadcast their July 4, 1989 show from Orchard Park, New York—a famous performance immortalized as “Truckin’ Up to Buffalo” on DVD and CD (remember those?)

This show took place in the stadium where the Buffalo Bills play. This is serious Grateful Dead country, all of western New York is. And on July 4^th, the stage was set for the Dead’s magical musical alchemy. I watched the show last night on demand and it is breathtaking. Jerry Garcia was in rare, beautiful form. He appeared healthy and regal like a lion. Bobby Weir was magnificent. The entire band was locked in synch and the camera catches them making eye contact with each other in that knowing way that something great was happening.

The show stopper for me was the closing number of the first set, “Deal.” Jerry changes the lyrics slightly to gently advise the audience to “watch each card you play children, please play it slow,” which in and of itself is a big deal—Jerry made a point of never telling his fans to do anything for fear that they would follow him with cultish reverence. But this sweet word of advice was so pure, kind and immersed in song that it somehow must have felt safe to Garcia.

After delivering that lyric he launches into one of his absolutely astonishing guitar solos. David Crosby recently said that Garcia had a knack for playing the exact right thing at the exact right time. Just watch this.

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 with the External Relations team: Emma Colbran, Caleb Diamond, and Brad Honigberg.