Good Evening,
It's Tuesday, May 11th. |
As Israelis and Palestinians Battle, Rockets and Airstrikes Intensify
Airstrikes left neighborhoods in Gaza trembling, killing at least two dozen people, and rockets rained on cities in Israel, including Tel Aviv, as some of the worst fighting between Israelis and Palestinians in years showed no signs of abating on Tuesday, as the NYT reports.
Dive Deeper: “The Deadly Israeli-Palestinian Escalation,” by CSIS’s Jon Alterman. |
CDC Director Says U.S. Is Planning for Covid-19 Vaccine Booster Shots ‘Just in Case’
The U.S. government is planning for the potential need for Covid-19 vaccine booster shots “just in case,” CDC Director Rochelle Walensky told CNBC today. Walensky said that U.S. health officials are “thinking ahead” in the event that vaccine-induced immunity against the coronavirus begins to wane. |
U.S. Blacklists 7 Lebanese Nationals
The United States today called on governments worldwide to take action against Lebanon's Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah, as the Treasury Department sanctioned seven Lebanese nationals it said were connected to the group and its financial firm, Al-Qard al-Hassan, as Reuters reports. |
Executive Education
Expand your professional horizons with an Executive Master in International Relations from CSIS and the #1-ranked Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs in as few as 18 months. Work alongside top policy experts at the leading international security think tank while developing the leadership skills, international perspective, and technical expertise needed to excel in today’s global landscape. |
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
400,000
The Biden administration on Tuesday approved the first large-scale offshore wind farm in the United States, a project that envisions building 62 turbines off Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts and creating enough electricity to power 400,000 homes.
Source: Washington Post
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Critical Quote
“Hamas and Islamic Jihad have paid, and will pay, a very heavy price for their aggression.”
— Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu |
iDeas Lab
CSIS's Beyond Parallel finds that that vehicle traffic between the Sinuiju and Dandong customs stations on the North Korea-China border decreased approximately 88 percent since the Covid-19 outbreak and the subsequent border closure.
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: Mohammed Abed/AFP via Getty Images.) Smoke billows from an Israeli air strike on the Hanadi compound in Gaza City, controlled by the Palestinian Hamas movement. |
Recommended Reading
“Why Vaccine Confidence Matters to National Security," from the CSIS-LSHTM High-Level Panel on Vaccine Confidence and Misinformation. |
This Town Tomorrow
Tomorrow, at 9:00 a.m., the CSIS Americas Program hosts Colombian Interior Minister Daniel Palacios Martínez to discuss the country's recent public demonstrations and protests.
Later, at 10:00 a.m., CSIS's Defense Budget Analysis program hosts a panel discussion to discuss the FY 2022 defense budget request featuring Representative Anthony Brown (D-MD) of the House Armed Services Committee.
Last, at 3:00 p.m., CSIS's Global Health Policy Center hosts Peter J. Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at the Baylor College of Medicine, for a discussion on his new book exploring how the international community can prepare for the next pandemic. |
Video
CSIS's Heather A. Conley and Rachel Ellehuus sat down earlier today with Greek defense minister Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos. They discussed the significant shifts that Greece is witnessing in its regional security environment, the reasons behind growing instability in the area, and Greece’s initiatives to advance security and stability in the Eastern Mediterranean, working closely with regional partners. Watch the full event here. |
Podcasts
Host Mike Green speaks with Eva Pejsova of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel and Luis Simon of the Brussels School of Governance to discuss how the Indo-Pacific factors into European foreign policy and strategic thinking.
Listen on Spotify, Google Podcasts, and Apple Podcasts. |
Smiles
I’m glad you all enjoyed the clip from Bill Kreutzmann’s Grateful Mahalo yesterday. So here’s another one from Kreutzmann’s 75th birthday weekend—scroll in to about 1:20 and Billy & the Kids launch into “China Cat Sunflower” with Tom Hamilton on vocals. Following “China Cat” is a rare cut, a previously-shelved and newly-rearranged Robert Hunter tune called “Thunder” featuring bluegrass star Billy Strings on vocals. Tell me what you think: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9F1AHxpQSw. |
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I invite you to email me at [email protected] and follow
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