ISIS Leader Killed

The Islamic State’s leader detonated an explosive, killing himself and four members of his family during a nighttime raid by U.S. special operations forces in northwestern Syria, as the Washington Post reports.

Russian Plan Exposed

The U.S. has acquired intelligence about a Russian plan to fabricate a pretext for an invasion of Ukraine using a fake video that would build on recent disinformation campaigns, as the NYT reports.

U.S. Sees Iran’s Nuclear Program as Too Advanced to Restore Key Goal of 2015 Pact

The Biden administration expects a restored nuclear deal would leave Iran capable of amassing enough nuclear fuel for a bomb in significantly less than a year, a shorter time frame than the one that underpinned the 2015 agreement, as the WSJ 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

1,200 miles

North Korea launched an intermediate-range ballistic missile Sunday that traveled an unusually lofty trajectory of more than 1,200 miles—more than twice the altitude of what Pyongyang had launched in any test since 2017.

Source: WSJ

Critical Quote

“This operation is testament to America’s reach and capability to take out terrorist threats no matter where they try to hide anywhere in the world.”

— President Joe Biden

iDeas Lab

Analysis from CSIS highlights the dual approach that Russia is pursuing in Ukraine, combining a major buildup of conventional forces with clandestine irregular activities. If peace talks fail, an escalation between NATO and Russia could extend well beyond Eastern Europe

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: Abdulaziz KETAZ/AFP/Getty Images.) Red tape is extended and objects are set on fire around the house in which the Islamic State (IS) leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi died, during an overnight raid by U.S. special forces in the town of Atme in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib, on February 3, 2022.

This Town Tomorrow

At 10:00 a.m., join the CSIS Global Health Policy Center for a discussion on vaccine confidence and misinformation in the United States and globally.

And, at 12:30 p.m., the Atlantic Council hosts a conversation on Afghanistan’s likely future under the Taliban’s regime.

Then, at 1:30 p.m., the Bipartisan Policy Center holds a virtual discussion with D.C. thought leaders to debate the tradeoffs of the latest actions in competition/antitrust policy.

Video

Earlier today, CSIS's Jake Harrington spoke with Dr. Amy Zegart about her new book, Spies, Lies, and Algorithms, which offers an engaging and enlightening account of the past, present, and future of American espionage. Watch the full video here.

Podcasts

This week, CSIS's Bonny Lin was joined by Dr. Joseph Torigian, Assistant Professor at American University’s School of International Service, to discuss the historic and strategic dimensions of the China-Russia relationship.

Listen on Spotify & Apple Podcasts.

Smiles

There’s a pretty good band from across the pond that has been known to dip into some country music from time to time. And when they do, they bring it.

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.