Release of Tanker Hailed as Victory in Iran

As the Iranian tanker seized last month by British commandos finally set sail from Gibraltar, the Islamic republic was in a triumphalist and defiant mood, as the FT’s Najmeh Bozorgmehr and Andrew England report.

China Spreads Disinformation in Hong Kong

China has aggressively stirred up anti-Western and nationalist sentiment using state and social media as part of an information war in the Hong Kong protests, as the NYT’s Kate Conger reports.

Dive Deeper: Check out CSIS’s newest podcast “Hong Kong on the Brink” featuring CSIS’s Jude Blanchette.

President Calls for Rate Cut

President Trump on Monday called for the Federal Reserve to sharply cut interest rates and again criticized the central bank’s chairman for a “horrendous lack of vision,” while reiterating his belief that the U.S. economy is strong, as the WSJ’s Rebecca Ballhaus and Paul Kiernan report.

And, as the AFP reports stock markets rallied Monday after President Trump's top economic adviser hailed "positive" trade talks with Chinese negotiators.

Dive Deeper: “We need to get back to a pro-trade consensus. But it’ll take a fight,” CSIS Commission on Affirming American Leadership co-chairs’ Frederick Smith, William Brock and Charlene Barshefsky in an Op-Ed for today’s Washington Post.

“Trump's Fall 2019 China Tariff Plan: Five Things You Need to Know,” by the Peterson Institute’s Chad Bown.

“Competition Without Catastrophe: How America Can Both Challenge and Coexist With China,” by Kurt Campbell and Jake Sullivan for Foreign Affairs.

Enroll for Fall

Now enrolling for the Fall, CSIS & Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs offer a new Executive Master's in International Relations. Information here.

Video Shorts

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

In That Number

1.7 Million

Organizers say 1.7 million people turned out at Sunday's pro-democracy protest in Hong Kong, amid increasingly severe warnings by Beijing.

Source: BBC

Critical Quote

“Engagement is essential to our survival; trade is an integral part of our engagement.”

— Frederick W. Smith, William Brock and Charlene Barshefsky co-chairs of the Center for Strategic and International Studies Commission on Affirming American Leadership.

iDeas Lab

North Korea's Ryongyang Mine is one of the largest in the world, but its infrastructure and technology is dated and obsolete when compared to world standards.

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: Chris McGrath/Getty Images). Thousands of anti-government protesters march on a street after leaving a rally in Victoria Park, Hong Kong.

This Town Tomorrow

At 12:00 p.m., the East-West Center in Washington will hold a panel discussion with Dr. Pek Koon Heng, American University professor and ASEAN expert, titled “Malaysia under a Fracturing Alliance of Hope Coalition: Future Prospects.”

And, at 2:00 p.m., The Business Council for International Understanding (BCIU) will hold a briefing with Rosemary Gallant, senior commercial officer at the U.S. Embassy in London.

Also at 2:00 p.m., the Carnegie Middle East Center will hold a public forum to discuss the conflict in Yemen with former Yemeni ambassador Mustapha Noman and author Huda Al-Attas.

Video

The CSIS Task Force on Humanitarian Access focused on finding concrete U.S. policy solutions to increase access to vulnerable and displaced populations in conflict. Watch the video here.

Podcasts

Hong Kong has again erupted in protest over frustrations with Beijing’s increasingly iron-clad rule. CSIS’s Freeman Chair in China Studies Jude Blanchette and Chief Communications Officer Andrew Schwartz unpack the latest developments in this volatile conflict.

Listen on SoundCloud & Apple Podcasts.

Smiles

“You can see the stars and still not see the light.”

I really love The Eagles. They always make me smile.

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.