The Evening: Putin’s Perilous Point, China Funds Africa, Oasis, and More

Newsletter - September 5, 2024

Putin's Perilous Point

As Kyiv raced reinforcements to eastern Ukraine to try to stabilize its buckling defensive lines there, Vladimir Putin amplified his threats against the region on Thursday, calling Moscow's offensive in the area his military's "first-priority goal," as the NYT reports.

Despite Ukraine's Incursion, Putin Says He's Willing to Talk Peace

Vladimir Putin said he hadn't given up on peace negotiations with Ukraine, in comments apparently aimed at the West ahead of a U.S. visit by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to try to elicit more military backing. But, as the WSJ reports, Putin is willing to pick up talks, but only along lines long dismissed by Ukraine as unworkable.

China Offers Africa $51 Billion in Fresh Funding

President Xi Jinping pledged on Thursday to step up China's support across debt-laden Africa with funding of nearly $51 billion over three years, backing for more infrastructure projects, and the creation of at least 1 million jobs, as Reuters reports.

Executive Education

Develop agile responses to unprecedented challenges. Join Global Foresight: Preparing for Future Trendsfrom October 21-24 to gain strategic foresight tools-from identifying drivers of change to modeling future scenarios-and learn to anticipate external challenges. Register by October 9.

Audio Briefs

CSIS now offers full audio versions of our latest analysis. Listen to the latest commentary from CSIS's Cy McGeady and Nitika Nayar, "Battery Bonanza: Lessons from Two States."

In That Number

$51 billion

Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Thursday pledged $51 billion in loans, aid, and investment for Africa over the next three years as he laid out a plan to expand Beijing's already extensive political, military and economic ties with the continent.
Source: The Washington Post

Critical Quote

This is not the first time that Russia has been blamed for interfering into America's elections. Well of course it's nonsense. We're not interfering.

- Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov

iDeas Lab

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The gender gap in internet usage remains prominent in low- and middle-income countries. Although women have increased their access to the internet since 2019, there is still significant disparity compared to men, causing women to face challenges while attempting to access digital services. Read the full 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: Johan Ordonez/AFP/Getty Images.

Released Nicaraguan political prisoners wave as they leave on a bus after their arrival at the Guatemala City Air Base on September 5, 2024.

Recommended Reading

"Removing Bottlenecks for the Private Sector: Ukraine's Current State of Reforms" by CSIS's Romina Bandura with Daria Figlus and Ilya Timtchenko.

This Town Next Week

On Monday, at 9:15 a.m., the CSIS Defending Democratic Institutions Project hosts Robert Silvers, Under Secretary for Policy at the Department of Homeland Security, for a discussion on the Cyber Safety Review Board.

On Tuesday, at 8:00 a.m., the CSIS Japan Chair and Inagaki Kana, former Tokyo Bureau Chief at the Financial Times, unpack the upcoming Japanese election.

On Thursday, at 4:00 p.m., CSIS welcomes Ambassador John J. Sullivan, former United States Ambassador to Russia, to discuss his newest memoir, Midnight in Moscow, followed by a book signing and reception.

Video

Today, CSIS was joined by John Zogby, founder of the Zogby International Poll and senior partner at John Zogby Strategies, to discuss his new book, Beyond the Horse Race: How to Read Polls and Why We Should. Watch the full video here.

Podcasts

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Jeff Alstott, expert at the National Science Foundation (NSF) and director of the Center for Technology and Security Policy at RAND, joins the podcast to discuss past technology forecasting across the national security community and a new NSF initiative called Assessing and Predicting Technology Outcomes.

Listen on Spotify& Apple Podcasts.

Smiles

Oasis is getting back together and touring the UK and Ireland next summer. That's big news for fans and, in addition, the band alluded to touring the U.S. It's one of the coolest things that happened in music this summer. There are very few existing rock bands that can electrify mass audiences-Oasis is one of them, and as Liam Gallagher recently provedat a performance with his band in Reading & Leeds, he's still got it. Imagine what it will look like when brother Noel joins the fun.

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