Moderna Vaccine

The drugmaker Moderna announced on Monday that its coronavirus vaccine was 94.5 percent effective, as the WSJ reports.

Yet experts at the World Health Organization in Geneva weighed the hopes against a long slog they still see ahead, as the Washington Post reports.

Troop Withdrawals

The White House has told the Pentagon to begin planning to bring the troop levels in Afghanistan and Iraq down to 2,500 each by Jan. 15, just days before President Donald Trump leaves office, as Politico reports.

Asian Trade Pact

After eight years of talks, China and 14 other nations from Japan to New Zealand to Myanmar on Sunday formally signed one of the world’s largest regional free trade agreements, a pact shaped by Beijing partly as a counterweight to American influence in the region, as the NYT reports.

Coronavirus Crisis Update

The Coronavirus Crisis Update podcast brings you the latest updates and analysis from CSIS experts and the leaders directing the global response. Past guests include NIAID Director Anthony Fauci, White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain, IHME Director Chris Murray, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Representative Tom Cole (R-OK), Former FDA Comissioner Peggy Hamburg, and more. Listen on Apple Podcasts & Spotify.

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

94.5%

The drugmaker Moderna announced on Monday that its coronavirus vaccine was 94.5 percent effective.

Source: NYT

Critical Quote

“Aspirationally, you would like to see 90, 95 percent, but I wasn’t expecting it. I thought we’d be good, but 94.5 percent is very impressive”

—Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

iDeas Lab

The U.S.-China relationship is always changing and evolving, but that doesn't mean it's completely unpredictable. This is what's happening with U.S.-China relations.

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: Photo by Kazuhiro Nogi/Pool/AFP via Getty Images) Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga greets International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach during their meeting in Tokyo on November 16, 2020.

This Town Tomorrow

Tomorrow, at 10:00 a.m., CSIS welcomes Ambassador Lone Wisborg, Danish Ambassador to the United States, to discuss national action plans on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) for low- and middle-income countries.

Later, at 2:00 p.m., the CSIS Aerospace Security Project will examine US agency coordination for Space Situational Awareness (SSA) and Space Traffic Management (STM).

Then, at 4:00 p.m., return to CSIS for an event to address increasing access to public service opportunities for minority students, particularly those enrolled in HBCUs, and discuss the complex hiring practices for many U.S. government agencies.

Video

Last week, Vice Admiral Jeffrey E. Trussler discussed the role of the United States Navy in information warfare. Watch the full video here.

Podcasts

CSIS Senior Fellow Romina Bandura joins the podcast to discuss the security, economic, and governance challenges that lead to deforestation of the Amazon.

Listen on Spotify & Apple Podcasts.

Smiles

I would be a tremendous Foo Fighters fan simply for the fact that Dave Grohl is from Northern Virginia and grew up in the same DC music scene that I did. I’d also be a fan because Grohl, plus Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins and guitarist Pat Smear, perform with a joy like no other rock band working today.

But what sends me over the top with the Foos is that they know how to deliver sonic messages with a power and humanity that few bands can muster. Just last week on Saturday Night Live, Grohl and the Foo Fighters reworked one of their classic tracks to do just that https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEiIN3e_QW0.

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 Kendal Gee.