The Evening: Ukraine Assassinates Russian General, Syrian Rebels to Unite, Living the Dream, and More

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Good Evening,

It's Tuesday, December 17th.

Note: The Evening will be “gone fishin’” until Monday, January 6th. We wish you a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Happy Holidays!

Ukraine Assassinates Russian General

A general in charge of the Russian military’s nuclear and chemical weapons protection forces was killed by a bomb on a Moscow street on Tuesday, in one of the most brazen assassinations since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine nearly three years ago, as the NYT reports

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Syrian Rebel Leader Says Rebel Factions Will Be Dissolved

The leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the Islamist rebel group that spearheaded the ouster of the Bashar al-Assad regime, said Tuesday that Syria’s rebel factions will be dissolved, with all fighters uniting under the country’s Defense Ministry, as The Washington Post reports

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U.S. Fears Military Buildup by Turkey

Senior U.S. officials say Turkey and its militia allies are building up forces along the border with Syria, raising alarm that Ankara is preparing for a large-scale incursion into territory held by American-backed Syrian Kurds, as the WSJ reports

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Executive Education

From production to procurement, explore the defense acquisition process with Mapping the U.S. DOD Acquisition Ecosystem

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. Join us at CSIS in-person or virtually on February 11 for a deep dive into the requirements process, funding stages, and how the government acquires and maintains capabilities. Registration

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closes January 31.

Audio Briefs

CSIS now offers audio versions of our latest analysis. Listen to the latest Critical Questions by CSIS's Clayton Swope, "Why Are There So Many Unexplained Drones Flying Over the United States?

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"

In That Number

4,800

Ukraine’s security service said that Russian forces, on recently assassinated General Igor Kirillov’s orders, had used chemical weapons on the battlefield more than 4,800 times since the war began.

Source: NYT

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Critical Quote

“Attempts to intimidate our people, to stop the Russian army’s offensive, to sow fear, are doomed.”

—Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Head of the Russian Security Council

iDeas Lab

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The professional Maritime Militia Fishing Vessels operating in the South China Sea all appear to be based out of China's Hainan province. Over half of Hainan-based militia identified by the CSIS Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative

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are registered to Sansha City on Woody Island in the Paracels.⁠

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: Sefa Karacan/Anadolu/Getty Images.) A view of the scene after Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, chief of Russia's Radiation, Chemical, and Biological Protection Defense Troops, and his assistant were killed in an explosion in Moscow, Russia on December 17, 2024.

Recommended Reading

“The Next Critical Step in South Korea’s Impeachment: The Constitutional Court

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” by CSIS’s Victor Cha and Ellen Kim.

This Town Upcoming

Tomorrow, at 9:30 a.m.

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, the CSIS Global Health Policy Center welcomes Dr. Rahul Gupta, Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, to discuss the decrease in overdose deaths in 2024.

Also tomorrow, at 1:00 p.m.

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, the CSIS China Power Project discusses the DOD's forthcoming report on the Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China.

On Friday, at 9:30 a.m.

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, the CSIS Korea Chair unpacks President Yoon's impeachment and what to expect next as South Korea heads into 2025 with political uncertainty.

Video

Today, the CSIS Aerospace Security Project hosted a conference to mark the 5-year anniversary of the U.S. Space Force, featuring keynote remarks from General B. Chance Saltzman, Chief of Space Operations. Watch the full video here.

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Podcasts

Dr. Ben Buchanan, the White House Special Advisor for AI, joins the podcast to discuss the Biden administration's biggest AI policy achievements, including the AI Bill of Rights, the AI Safety Institute, and the Hiroshima AI process, and the National Security Memorandum on AI.

Listen on Spotify

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& Apple Podcasts

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Smiles

If you’ve been reading this space, you know that Sturgill Simpson gets my vote for artist of the year. His incredible live shows over the past several months have underscored how Simpson transcends country and western music and comingles his sound with Americana, jam, and roots rock. To that end, Simpson is performing for the second consecutive year with Bobby Weir and Dead Ahead for their big shows in January on the Riviera Maya.



If you want to hear and see some of Simpson’s tour, check out the excellent subscription service Nugs.net—I swear by the app. But if you want a free option to get a sense of what his performances are like, here’s Simpson’s full set at Austin City Limits last October

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. Once you open the link, you can pick songs by time stamp. If you don’t have time or want to listen to the whole show, click “1:10:30 Living the Dream” and go from there—you have my word that you will enjoy it.

Merry Xmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Happy Holidays to all! We’ll be back in the new year with more smiles.

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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