Good Evening,
It's Monday, January 25th. |
Brazil Variant Detected in Minnesota
Minnesota officials announced Monday they have identified a person infected with a highly transmissible variant of the coronavirus that has been spreading at alarming rates in recent weeks in Brazil. This is the first report in the United States of the so-called P.1 variant, as the Washington Post reports. |
Biden Overturns Transgender Military Ban
President Biden reversed his predecessor’s ban on transgender troops serving in the military, administration officials announced Monday, moving swiftly into a social issue that has tangled the Pentagon over the past five years, as the NYT reports. |
Biden Signs Buy American Order
President Biden reversed his predecessor’s ban on transgender troops serving in the military, administration officials announced Monday, moving swiftly into a social issue that has tangled the Pentagon over the past five years, as the NYT reports. |
Executive Education
CSIS is now accepting applications for the Fall 2020 Belt and Road Executive Course. Drawing insights from leading experts and the CSIS Reconnecting Asia Project, this course reveals how China's $1 trillion foreign policy effort is impacting commercial and strategic realities on the ground. |
Global Forecast 2021
 Global Forecast is an annual collection of essays by CSIS experts focused on the critical issues facing the United States and the world in the year ahead. The latest papers examine confronting China's state capitalism and addressing climate change through multilateralism. |
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 Dr. Anthony Fauci, White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain, IHME Director Dr. Chris Murray, Covid-19 Advisory Group members Dr. Luciana Borio and Dr. Celine Gounder, chef Jose Andres, and more. Listen on Apple Podcasts & Spotify. |
Video Shorts
Check out CSIS’s new series of video shorts: “Data Unpacked,” Testify,” “What's Happening,” “Preview,” and “High Resolution.” And don’t forget to subscribe to the CSIS YouTube Channel! |
In That Number
28 trillion
Between 1994 and 2017, the Earth lost 28 trillion metric tons of ice. That is an amount roughly equivalent to a sheet of ice 100 meters thick covering the state of Michigan or the entire U.K.
Source: WSJ |
Critical Quote
"It was the harassment of my wife, and particularly my children, that upset me more than anything else. They knew where my kids work, where they live. The threats would come directly to my children’s phones, directly to my children’s homes."
— Dr. Anthony Fauci |
iDeas Lab
CSIS satellite imagery analysis suggests North Korea's Kyongje-dong facility to be a helicopter base not associated with any ballistic missile facilities.
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: Doug Mills/AFP/Getty Images.) President Biden signs an executive order repealing the ban on transgender people serving openly in the military. |
Recommended Reading
“New Variants Rattle The World,” by CSIS's J. Stephen Morrison and Anna Carroll. |
This Town Tomorrow
Tomorrow at 9:30 a.m., join CSIS to discuss how traditional and social media companies can help build public trust in Covid-19 vaccines.
Later, at 2:00 p.m., CSIS’s Daniel F. Runde will host Afghanistan Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations Adela Raz to examine how preserving Afghan Cultural Heritage can play a role in ongoing peace efforts.
And, at 10:00 a.m., the Wilson Center hosts its Ninth Annual US-Mexico Security Forum to consider the region's most pressing security issues. |
Video
Earlier today, General John M. Murray, Commanding General, Army Futures Command joined CSIS's Mark Cancian to discuss the army's modernization efforts. Watch the conversation here. |
Podcasts
In today's episode of The Impossible State, I sat down with Dr. Victor Cha and Dr. Sue Mi Terry to discuss the new Biden administration’s Korea policy and what to expect from North and South Korea.
Listen on Spotify & Apple Podcasts. |
Smiles
"Playing for Change,” as many of you who read this space know, is an organization that deploys music to break down boundaries and overcome distances between people. In one of their latest clips, they asked Bob Marley’s daughter Cedella and his grandson Skip to lead this stirring rendition of “Get Up, Stand Up.”
I’ve been fortunate to spend a lot of time in Jamaica. When my sons were little kids, my mother and father in law—who had honeymooned in Jamaica—started taking us yearly to the island. At first, our large extended family stayed at the famous Half Moon resort which was a lovely but secluded existence. As our kids got a bit older we began staying in Saint Ann Parish in villas in Discovery Bay and Runaway Bay near Ocho Rios. I was in heaven in these places because St. Ann is the birthplace of Bob Marley, Discovery Bay is where Columbus first came to Jamaica in 1494, and it is where Keith Richards has an island villa too. Music and culture oozes out of Saint Ann and it was really cool to meet people there. And some of the most epic ocean swims of my life so far were across Discovery Bay.
So while Skip and Cedella are singing in Miami during this clip, most of the rest of the Jamaican musicians and Keith Richards were all filmed on beaches in Saint Ann that I’ve visited. And the singer from Portland, Jamaica reminds me of our friend Susan who was born in Portland and was baby nurse to all of our sons. Never give up the fight…https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLn7MtRH6Lk.
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