Blinken to Ukraine

The United States and Britain pledged nearly $1.5 billion in additional aid to Ukraine on Wednesday during a visit to Kyiv by their top diplomats as Ukrainian officials renewed their pleas to use Western-provided missiles against targets deeper inside Russia, as the AP reports.

North Korean Missiles Rain Down on Ukraine Despite Sanctions

North Korea has continued to supply advanced short-range ballistic missiles to Russia in defiance of sanctions meant to prevent Pyongyang from developing such weapons and Moscow from importing them, as the NYT reports.

Inflation Extends Cooling Streak to Hit 2.5%

Inflation eased in August to new three-year lows, teeing up the Federal Reserve to begin gradually reducing interest rates at a meeting next week, as the WSJ reports.

Executive Education

Develop agile responses to unprecedented challenges. Join Global Foresight: Preparing for Future Trends from October 21-24 to gain strategic foresight tools—from identifying drivers of change to modeling future scenarios—and learn to anticipate external challenges. Register by October 9.

Audio Briefs

CSIS now offers full audio versions of our latest analysis. Listen to CSIS's Gracelin Baskaran's latest commentary, "Partnering with Middle Eastern Countries to Boost U.S. Minerals Security."

In That Number

2.5 percent

U.S. inflation fell to 2.5 per cent in August, setting the stage for the Federal Reserve to start cutting interest rates gradually at its meeting next week.
Source: FT

Critical Quote

“Memory compels us to act.”

—Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky

iDeas Lab

Taiwan’s goal to separate and diversify from China has proven difficult as Taiwan imports 97% of its energy supplies. Faced with blockade scenarios from China, Taiwan could suffer from progressive failures in electric power distribution around the island. Read the full 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: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images.) Members of the military and first responders watch as an American flag is unfurled on the side of the Pentagon to commemorate the 23rd anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks on September 11, 2024, in Arlington, Virginia.

This Town Tomorrow

At 9:30 a.m., the CSIS Project on Critical Minerals Security hosts a discussion on how the United States can create more resilient supply chains, the role of international partnerships in advancing strategic minerals security goals, and more.

Then, at 10:00 a.m., the CSIS Economic Security and Technology Department welcomes Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement, Matthew S. Axelrod, to discuss United States export enforcement and compliance policies.

Later, at 4:00 p.m., CSIS hosts a conversation with CSIS President and CEO, Dr. John J. Hamre, and former United States Ambassador to Russia, Ambassador John J. Sullivan, to discuss his newest memoir, Midnight in Moscow.

Video

Today, the CSIS Energy Security and Climate Change Program hosted a launch event for a new report, "Strategic Equilibrium: The United States’ Manufacturing Resurgence and the Role of Natural Gas in a Carbon-Competitive World." Watch the full video here.

Podcasts

On this week’s episode, Navin Girishankar, president of CSIS’s new Economic Security and Technology Department, joins the podcast to discuss his experience working at the Department of Commerce, Bridgewater Associates, and the World Bank, as well as CSIS’s renewed focus on economic statecraft and technology to address 21st-century security threats.

Listen on Spotify & Apple Podcasts.

Smiles

If you are a fan of Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, you are in for a treat—a new live album “Live at Fillmore East, 1969” drops in late October.

This is a big deal because sadly, one of the greatest live rock bands in history has issued very few sanctioned live recordings. “4 Way Street,” CSNY’s most well-known live record is comprised of their 1970 live shows but it is a mixed bag with some high and low lights—Stills has long maintained that he hates the record. “CNSY 1974,” a lesser known album with limited streaming distribution (available on Apple but not on Spotify) was released in late summer of 2014 and it is gangbusters. In my view it is the only live CSNY record that recalls the power of the supergroup. Until now.

Capturing the group on its first tour, “Live at Fillmore East, 1969,” is drawn from four sets over several nights that they performed at Bill Graham’s legendary New York theater. Yesterday, a tease from the album landed on streaming services. It’s an infectious acoustic version of the CSNY classic, “Helplessly Hoping.” Half of the forthcoming album is acoustic and the other half electric. I can’t wait for the rest of the record.

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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.