Israel Kills Islamic Jihad Commander in Gaza

In a surprise airstrike before dawn on Tuesday, Israeli forces killed a senior commander of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group in the Gaza Strip, setting off waves of retaliatory rocket attacks that immediately raised fears of an escalating new conflict, as the NYT’s Isabel Kershner, Iyad Abuheweila, and David M. Halbfinger report.

Hong Kong Universities Become Battlefields

Police in Hong Kong battled pro-democracy protesters at several university campuses in sometimes savage clashes, as parts of the city were paralyzed including Hong Kong’s central financial district that was tear-gassed for a second day running, as Reuters reports.

Trump and Erdogan to Meet at White House Wednesday

The close personal relations between President Trump and Turkish President Erdogan will be on full display at a White House meeting Wednesday despite strains between the two NATO members over Turkey’s purchase of Russian defense missiles and the country’s military assault on a key U.S. partner in Syria, as the WSJ’s David Gauthier-Villars reports.

Dive Deeper: “Erdogan in Washington: Setting the Agenda for a Pivotal Visit,” by the Washington Center’s Soner Cagaptay, Anna Borshchevskaya, Conor Hiney, Dana Stroul, and Charles Thépaut.

Trump Threatens Trade War Escalation

President Donald Trump threatened a new escalation of the trade war with China, saying U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods would be “raised very substantially” if no truce was reached with officials in Beijing, as the FT’s James Politi reports.

CSIS Executive Education

Join CSIS December 9-11 for our course, Unpacking the Defense Enterprise. Get a competitive advantage in analyzing the changes within the defense domain and better understand the future of the U.S. defense enterprise.

Video Shorts

Check out CSIS’s new series of video shorts: “Testify,” "What's Happening," "Preview," and “High Resolution.” And don’t forget to subscribe to the CSIS YouTube Channel!

In That Number

11

France will take back 11 suspected French jihadists from Turkey, French interior minister Christophe Castaner said on Tuesday.

Source: Reuters

Critical Quote

“We have started returning Daesh members to their countries.”

— Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan

iDeas Lab

Since late 2017, protests have materialized throughout Iran. A new CSIS Brief explores the motivations behind the protests and how the central government is responding.

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

Optics

Senator James Risch (R-ID), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, spoke at CSIS today about China’s growing economic and political influence in Europe and the need for a cohesive transatlantic strategy and policy response. Watch his remarks here.

This Town Tomorrow

At 8:45 a.m., the Hudson Institute will hold a panel discussion examining U.S. space strategy, allied space cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region, and competition with China in space security.

And, at 12:00 p.m., the Wilson Center will host the ambassadors of the Czech Republic and Slovakia to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of the Velvet Revolution.

Later, at 3:30 p.m., the Stimson Center will host a discussion on the challenges the U.S. approach to airstrikes in Somalia poses and around the world and the impact of these operations on standards for transparency and accountability.

Video

William Carter, deputy director and fellow with the CSIS Technology Policy Program, testified in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism last week regarding the lawful and unlawful use of data between nations and corporations. Watch this video to learn more about what the U.S. government can do going forward.

Podcasts

In the latest episode of Defense 2020, host Kathleen Hicks hosts Republican defense experts Mark Cancian, Thomas Mahnken, and Jen Stewart to discuss how the party is approaching key national security and defense issues heading into the election.

Listen on Spotify & Apple Podcasts.

Smiles

The texts were flying fast yesterday in my friend group. Something big happened in the rock and roll world. The Black Crowes took to the Howard Stern show to announce that they were reuniting as a band for the first time since 2013. Why is this such a big deal you ask? Because these days, when rock and roll shows very little signs of life, it is earth shaking when some of the medium’s proven masters promise to go at it with the spirit that their fans love them for.

If you first became a Crowes fan in the early 90s you know exactly what I’m talking about. Back then rock was very much alive and the Crowes were hailed as the second coming of such rock deities as the Rolling Stones. The Crowes had an incredibly powerful brand of music rooted in Southern Rock--the kind of music the Stones and the Faces tapped into for their best material. The Crowes debut album “Shake Your Money Maker” (1990) was a huge success, but their follow up, “The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion” (1992) was the instant classic that sent my friends and me reeling to this day. Here’s a small sample of why that is.

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: Emma Colbran, Caleb Diamond, and Brad Honigberg.