Netanyahu Indicted

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was indicted Thursday on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust, throwing his political future into doubt and heightening the uncertainty and chaos surrounding Israel’s yearlong struggle to choose its next leader, as the NYT’s David Halbfinger reports.

China Invitation on Trade Talks

China’s chief trade negotiator has invited his American counterparts for a new round of face-to-face talks, as the WSJ’s Lingling Wei and Eva Dou report.

Colombia Joins South America’s Season of Protest

Thousands of union members and anti-government protesters took to the streets of Colombia on Thursday for a 12-hour nationwide strike, making the Andean nation the latest in South America to break out in large-scale civil unrest, as the Washington Post’s Anthony Faiola and Rachelle Krygier report.

Dive Deeper: Listen to “Colombia’s New Phase” a new interview with former U.S. Ambassador to Colombia Kevin Whitaker on the CSIS 35 West Podcast.

CSIS Executive Education

Nominations and applications for our 2020 Women’s Global Leadership Program are now open! If you or someone you know is an exceptional woman interested in deepening their understanding of geopolitical trends and executive leadership skills, please apply.

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

2%

NATO’s current burden sharing goals call for spending 2% of GDP on total defense spending levels.

Source: CSIS, "NATO’s “Brain Death” Burdensharing Blunders: Focusing on the Right Investment, Force Strength, and Readiness Needs," by Anthony Cordesman.

Critical Quote

“China would much rather make a trade deal than I would.”

— President Donald Trump

iDeas Lab

While the core focus of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is on traditional infrastructure deployments, it is evident that the Digital Silk Road is a key part of the overall BRI strategy, and China will leverage technology to increase its influence along the route. Read the new Reconnecting Asia feature on China’s Digital Silk Road.

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

Optics

(Photo credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images). Fiona Hill, the National Security Council’s former senior director for Europe and Russia testifies before the House Intelligence Committee today on Capitol Hill.

This Town Tomorrow

At 12:00 p.m., the Hudson Institute will hold an event on China’s increased bullying, examining the causes, Taiwan’s responses, and how the United States should respond.

Then, at 2:30 p.m., CSIS's Project on History and Strategy will host a discussion on the history of Tiananmen and explain how the legacy and lessons of 1989 have shaped Chinese politics over the past three decades.

Later, at 4:00 p.m., The Institute of World Politics will hold a discussion on the post-revolution era in Sudan, its political stability, peace prospects, and the way forward.

Video

Today, CSIS held its eighth annual Transatlantic Forum on Russia, examining transatlantic policy towards Ukraine, Georgia, and Moldova five years after Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea and military incursion into eastern Ukraine. Watch the event here.

Podcasts

Hong Kong has again erupted in protest over frustrations with Beijing’s increasingly iron-clad rule. In “Hong Kong on the Brink,” CSIS’s Freeman Chair in China Studies Jude Blanchette and Chief Communications Officer Andrew Schwartz unpack the latest developments in this volatile conflict.

Listen on Spotify & Apple Podcasts.

Smiles

“After midnight, we gonna’ shake your tambourine.”

Eric Clapton’s second attempt at recording “After Midnight” is the version that had everyone talking in 1988 because of the Michelob beer commercial that he recorded it for. It has to be the best beer commercial ever. Unless you’re really into the Budweiser Clydesdales. I’m a Miller High Life guy, but EC’s smoky rendition of “After Midnight” got me to thinking about Michelob back in ’88 at various establishments in Uptown New Orleans…

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.