The Evening: Russia’s Threatening Message, NK Casualty, Friend of the Devil, and More

Newsletter - November 21, 2024

Russia Sends a Threatening Message

Vladimir Putin escalated a tense showdown with the West on Thursday, saying that Russia had launched a new intermediate-range ballistic missile at Ukraine in response to Ukraine's recent use of American and British weapons to strike deeper into Russia, as the NYT reports.

Senior North Korean General Wounded in Recent Ukrainian Strike

Marking the first time that Western officials have said that a high-ranking North Korean military officer has become a casualty in the escalating Russia-Ukraine conflict, a senior North Korean general was wounded in a recent Ukrainian strike in the Kursk area, as the WSJ reports.

Israel and U.S. Condemn ICC Arrest Warrants

The U.S. and Israel criticized the International Criminal Court for issuing arrest warrants Thursday for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant, as The Washington Post reports.

Executive Education

Gain the ethical leadership skills and strategic insights essential to navigating today's complex global landscape. The AILA International Fellowship equips participants with the tools and agile mindset needed to tackle the challenges of our rapidly changing landscape. Apply by January 17, 2025.

Audio Briefs

CSIS experts give short, spoken-word summaries on the biggest takeaways from their latest reports, white papers, and commentaries-in their own words.

Listen here: "Under the Gun: Firearms Trafficking in Latin America and the Caribbean" with CSIS's Christopher Hernandez-Roy and Henry Ziemer.

In That Number

$11 Billion

Despite opposition from some lawmakers, the Biden administration says it lived up to a pledge to provide over $11 billion in climate finance this year.
Source: WSJ

Critical Quote

Today, there was a new Russian missile. All its features-speed, altitude-show it was an intercontinental ballistic missile. An analysis is underway.

iDeas Lab

Almost half (45.9 percent) of the world's copper exploration budget was invested in Latin America in 2023. This focus on copper exploration is largely driven by market demand; given its range of applications, copper prices reached an all-time high in 2024. Read the full CSIS analysis here.

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

Optics

Photo: Civil Protection in Iceland/Handout/Anadolu/Getty Images

An aerial view of the eruption at the Sundhnukur volcanic fissure seen from outside the town of Grindavik, Iceland on November 21, 2024.

Recommended Reading

"Managing U.S.-China Tensions over the Global Economic Order Tentative Proposals" by CSIS's Scott Kennedy.

This Town Upcoming

Tomorrow at 3:00 p.m., the CSIS Geopolitics and Foreign Policy department welcomes Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and NSC Senior Director for East Asia and Oceania Mira Rapp-Hooper to discuss the Biden administration's Indo-Pacific Strategy.

Monday, at 9:00 a.m., the CSIS Australia Chair hosts Peace Corps Director Carol Spahn to discuss the future of the Peace Corps and its role in the Indo-Pacific.

Also Monday at 9:00 a.m., the CSIS Trustee Chair in Chinese Business and Economics unpacks traditional U.S. alliances, particularly the U.S.-South Korea alliance, in the era of U.S.-China rivalry.

Video

Yesterday, the CSIS Project on Nuclear Issues hosted a launch event for their new report on scenarios of detterence failure, Project Atom 2024. Multiple panels explore the authors' findings regarding strategic objectives and response options in the event of deterrence failure, alliance management in a deterrence failure scenario, and how the United States can better prepare for such a scenario. Watch the full event here.

Podcasts

Joseph Majkut, director of the CSIS Energy Security and Climate Change Program, joins the podcast to discuss the intersection of AI and energy policy, AI's huge energy requirements, and how to finance infrastructure development to meet these energy needs.

Listen on Spotify & Apple Podcasts.

Smiles

A collection of some of the most beautiful and important acoustic music that Jerry Garcia created as a side project outside the Grateful Dead hits streaming platforms and stores in mid-December, and I couldn't be smiling more. "Bare Bones: The Duo Recordings" is a collection of master recordings and alternate takes that David Grisman and Jerry Garcia recorded in Grisman's intimate home studio. A small taste of the recordings appeared online this week, and it underscores the significance of the duo's collaboration. Listen to the recording here.

I invite you to email me at [email protected] and follow me on Twitter @handrewschwartz