Federal Deficits to Grow More Than Expected

Federal deficits are projected to grow much more than expected over the next decade thanks to the two-year budget agreement lawmakers and the White House struck last month, the Congressional Budget Office said Wednesday. The agency increased its forecasts for deficits over the next decade by $809 billion, to $12.2 trillion, in updated budget projections released today, as the WSJ’s Kate Davidson reports.

Afghanistan Talks Resume

U.S.-Taliban negotiations to end America’s longest military engagement overseas entered a crucial stage on Wednesday, as Washington’s special envoy arrived in the Gulf state of Qatar for talks both sides hope will lead quickly to a deal, as the WSJ’s Craig Nelson reports.

Dive Deeper: “The Civil Challenges to Peace in Afghanistan,” by CSIS’s Anthony Cordesman.

Hong Kong Protestors Clash With Police

Thousands of Hong Kong residents held a sometimes scrappy anti-government protest on Wednesday at a suburban subway station that was attacked by a mob last month, angry that nobody has yet been prosecuted for the violence, as Reuters reports.

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 Trillion

The deficit will reach $960 billion for the 2019 fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30, and $1 trillion for the 2020 fiscal year.

Source: Congressional Budget Office

Critical Quote

“She’s not talking to me, she’s talking to the United States of America. They can’t say ‘how absurd.’”

— President Trump

iDeas Lab

The Pakchon Uranium Concentrate Pilot Plant is one of only two declared and known uranium concentrate plants in North Korea.

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: Carsten Koal/Getty Images). British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and German Chancellor Angela Merkel attend a guard of honor upon Johnson's arrival at the Chancellery.

This Town Tomorrow

At 12:30 p.m., the Arab Center will hold a book discussion on "Arab Women's Activism and Socio-Political Transformation: Unfinished Gendered Revolutions" with author Sahar Khamis, associate professor at the University of Maryland.

And, at 1:00 p.m., the Citizen Power Initiatives for China with the Uyghur Human Rights Project is holding a press conference for a report on the connection between Xinjiang Uyghur prison labor and the global supple of cotton textile.

Video

CSIS's Jonathan Hillman dives into what China's Belt and Road Initiative has come to look like in the six years since its inception, the issues it faces moving forward, and the threats and opportunities it presents to the United States. Watch the full video here.

Podcasts

Liz Smith, Executive Chairman of the Board and former CEO of Bloomin’ Brands and deputy chair of the Atlanta Fed, joined Beverly Kirk to talk about the importance of embracing your failures in the workplace, learning the lessons, and moving on quickly.

Listen on SoundCloud, Spotify, & Apple Podcasts.

Smiles

I miss Tom Petty. I was thinking about him a lot when I was in Malibu this summer—Petty had a rustically elegant Malibu home adjacent to a lake just a few miles from the beach. That made me smile and his music continues to 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.