Venezuela’s ruling party, the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), has decided to hold its first regional primaries since 2008. Since 2014, the nation's economy has shrunk by 76 percent—one of the most dramatic economic declines outside of war in world history—and the Maduro regime has limited resources to dole out to regime elites and military officers. To obtain government benefits, governors and mayors are incentivized to intimidate voters and mobilize regime loyalists to turn out for the primary elections—further supporting the regime's consolidation of power.

SOURCE: "Perfecting the Authoritarian Playbook" by CSIS' Ryan C. Berg.

New data released from the World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) show notable declines in key indicators of immunization coverage globally over the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2020 at least 23 million children worldwide missed receiving at least one of three recommended doses of combined diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP) vaccines—illustrating the expanding gap between the vaccinated and unvaccinated around the globe.

SOURCE: "Minding the Gap in Global Immunization Coverage" by CSIS' Katherine E. Bliss.

Recent satellite imagery reveals that China has made considerable progress in the construction of its Type 003 aircraft carrier, suggesting that the vessel may be ready to launch later this year. Imagery captured on July 12 shows the vessel at approximately 318 meters in length with construction of the carrier’s flight deck, basic superstructure, and sponsons nearly complete.

SOURCE: "Progress Report on China’s Type 003 Carrier" by CSIS' Matthew Funaiole and Joseph S. Bermudez.

Transportation is the largest source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the United States and decarbonizing the sector is key to addressing climate change. While President Biden's initial proposal in the American Jobs Plan has been scaled back significantly, his first request illustrates that, to reduce emissions, the big bet is on electricity. The single largest climate-related item in the proposed plan was for electric vehicles (EVs), at $174 billion in total—$100 billion to help people buy EVs, $15 billion to build 500,000 charging stations, $25 billion for zero-emissions public transit and $20 billion for school buses.

SOURCE: "How Biden Plans to Decarbonize Transportation" by CSIS' Stephen J. Naimoli and Nikos Tsafos.