Biden Booster Shot

President Biden received a Pfizer-BioNTech booster on Monday afternoon on camera but made clear his administration’s priority is to get more Americans vaccinated, as the NYT reports.

Germany’s Change Election

The leader of the center-left Social Democrats on Monday said he has a mandate to form the next German government, after preliminary results showed a narrow victory for his party over its main rival, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative Christian Democrats, as the Washington Post reports.

Russia’s Offer

The Pentagon’s top military officer, Joint Chiefs Chairman Mark Milley, discussed with his Russian counterpart an apparent offer from Russian President Vladimir Putin to use his military’s bases in Central Asia to respond to any emerging terrorist threats in Afghanistan, as the WSJ reports.

Executive Education

Apply now for a CSIS course on China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The course draws insights from leading experts and the Reconnecting Asia Project and explains what the BRI is, what it is not, and how it is impacting commercial and strategic realities on the ground.

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

$84.8 million

Chinese authorities have seized and sold at auction up to $84.8 million worth of assets owned by jailed Uyghur business owners amid a broad government campaign to assimilate ethnic minorities in the country’s northwest Xinjiang region.

Source: WSJ

Critical Quote

“Boosters are important. But the most important thing we need to do is get more people vaccinated. The vast majority of Americans are doing the right thing.”

— President Joe Biden

iDeas Lab

The CSIS Americas Program has released a new interactive report examining: (1) the biggest challenges of aging and disasters in the Western Hemisphere, (2) how digital infrastructure and policies can help countries address these challenges, and (3) what regional governments, donors, and development agencies can do to implement these policies.

The Andreas C. Dracopoulos iDeas Lab at CSIS enhances our research with the latest in cutting-edge web technologies, design, and multimedia.

Optics

Political Parties Gather On Day After Federal Elections

(Photo credit: Sean Gallup/Getty Images.) Olaf Scholz, chancellor candidate of the German Social Democrats (SPD), SPD Berlin mayoral candidate Franziska Giffey, and SPD Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania lead candidate Manuela Schwesig wave after SPD's narrow win in Germany's federal elections.

This Town Tomorrow

At 8:30 a.m., the CSIS Energy Security & Climate Change Program hosts a discussion on the future of natural gas with Charif Souki, Executive Chairman of Tellurian.

Then, at 12:00 p.m ., join the CSIS Project on Prosperity and Development for the launch of their new report on opportunities for the United States to rebuild its leadership role and influence in multilateral development institutions.

And, at 10:45 a.m., the Atlantic Council-Korea Foundation Forum brings together officials and experts to discuss forward-looking recommendations for the U.S.-ROK alliance.

Video

CSIS today hosted Leo Varadkar, Ireland's Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, for a discussion on the impacts of Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic on Ireland's economy and implications for the U.S.-Ireland transatlantic trade relationship.

Podcasts

A new episode of Energy 360, "Making Sense of China’s 'No New Coal' Announcement," is out now. Listen to learn more about what this important announcement says about China’s broader climate ambitions, implications for the Belt and Road Initiative, and how China will need to continue domestic efforts to reduce coal plants and lower emissions.

Listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Smiles

As discussed last week, Bob Dylan’s new bootleg series, which focuses on his early-mid 1980s work, harnesses the best outtakes from “Infidels,” the 1983 record Dire Straits’s Mark Knopfler produced and performed on.

A couple years later, Knopfler would go on to record an album that defined the 1980s with a hit single that captured the imagination of a generation. This performance needs no introduction—and the guy on backing vocals isn’t too shabby either… youtu.be/JcqhvPNiJzo

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: Kendal Gee, Paige Montfort, and Chris Healey.