Diplomatic Path Forward

The U.S. and NATO gave formal responses on Wednesday to Russia’s demands that NATO pull back forces from Eastern Europe and bar Ukraine from ever joining the alliance, as the NYT reports.

U.S.-Backed Forces Retake Syrian Prison From ISIS

U.S.-backed Syrian forces said they retook full control of a prison on Wednesday after a weeklong battle with ISIS who attacked the facility in their worst assault in the country in nearly three years, as the WSJ reports.

400 Million Doses

White House officials announced Wednesday that the United States has donated more than 400 million doses of coronavirus vaccines to other countries under the Biden administration, as the Washington Post reports.

Executive Education

Register for CSIS's “Navigating U.S. Foreign Assistance” course to participate in an in-depth, hands-on study of the latest trends and techniques today’s international development and humanitarian leaders need to maximize their impact.

Call for Applications: Strategy and Statecraft Fellowship

CSIS is launching the inaugural year of its Strategy and Statecraft Fellowship, an exclusive, world-class program of approximately 15 leaders. Fellows will grapple with the challenges of developing strategy and conducting effective statecraft, focusing on one of the most pressing challenges facing the United States: how to best compete with China.

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

700

The battle between Kurdish-led militia and Islamic State fighters for control of a prison in northeastern Syria revealed around 700 boys, many under the age of 16, held in the prison because their parents joined the Islamic State.

Source: NYT

Critical Quote

“Whether they choose the path of diplomacy and dialogue, whether they decide to renew aggression against Ukraine, we’re prepared either way.”

— Antony Blinken, U.S. Secretary of State

iDeas Lab

CSIS satellite imagery analysis finds that if peace talks fail, the Russian military has several options to advance into Ukraine. But a Russian attempt to seize and hold territory will not necessarily be easy and will likely be impacted by various challenges including weather, urban combat, logistics, and the morale of Russian troops and the Ukrainian population.

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: Olympia De Maismont/AFP/Getty Images.) People stage a demonstration in the capital Ouagadougou after the military seized power yesterday in Burkina Faso on January 25, 2022. Some of the demonstrators carried the Russian flag in the demonstration.

This Town Tomorrow

At 9:00 a.m., join the CSIS Asia Program for the Asia Forecast 2022, our annual preview of political, security, and economic developments across Asia.
And, at 2:30 p.m., the CSIS Project on Prosperity and Development holds a discussion on the merits and challenges of leveraging data for development.
Then, at 4:30 p.m., the CSIS Scholl Chair in International Business and the CSIS Korea Chair host a conversation with South Korean Trade Minister Yeo Han-Koo about creating sustainable, trustworthy Indo-Pacific trade.

Video

CSIS's Daniel F. Runde yesterday led a panel discussion on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) #17: Partnership for the Goals, and how to close the $2.5 trillion annual investment gap necessary for making progress on the SDGs.

Podcasts

This week Dr. Chris Murray, director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, joins Coronavirus Crisis Update to discuss his recent provocative piece in The Lancet, “Covid-19 will continue but the end of the pandemic is near.”

Listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Smiles

I’m a huge fan of the Netflix show “Narcos.” For one thing, it reminds me of a time when our enemies were the Soviet Union and the Cartels, not each other.

The current season of “Narcos: Mexico,” the series' third season, is brilliant and once I finished watching it, I was compelled to go back and watch seasons 1 and 2.

I won’t blow it for you if you haven’t seen any of this but I will say “Narcos: Mexico” makes some of the most effective use of music that I’ve ever seen in a TV show. For example, when fictional DEA agent Walt Breslin (played by actor Scoot McNairy) rolls into Tijuana with Bob Seger’s “Rock n Roll Never Forgets” blasting out of his van.

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 Christopher Healey.