Subject: The Evening CSIS: China’s Construction, US Special Ops in Libya, Tell It Like It Is & More
From: "Andrew Schwartz" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 9 Aug 2016 23:12:54 +0000
List-Id: 833ec271d60c6750d9c3baaacmc list <833ec271d60c6750d9c3baaac.212205.list-id.mcsv.net>

The Evening CSIS: China’s Construction, US Special Ops in Libya, Tell It Like It Is & More
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** Good Evening,
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Welcome to
The Evening CSIS—my daily guide to key insights CSIS brings to the events of the day plus HIGHLY RECOMMENDED content from around the world. To subscribe, please sign up here (http://bit.ly/ecs1s) .

** CSIS South China Sea Photos
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CSIS’s latest satellite photos of the South China Sea islands today made international news in a report by the
New York Times’ David E. Sanger and Rick Gladstone. The Times article, “New Photos Cast Doubt on China’s Vow Not to Militarize Disputed Islands (http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/09/world/asia/china-spratly-islands-south-china-sea.html) ” features CSIS photos and analysis provided initially as an exclusive to the Times by CSIS’s Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI) and the CSIS Andreas C. Dracopoulos iDeas Lab. Our analysis indicates that three South China Sea islets will soon have hangar space for 24 fighter-jets plus 3-4 larger planes.

The AP reports (http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2016/08/09/united-states-military-transparency-south-china-sea/88449198/) that the commander of the US Pacific Fleet today called for more military transparency in the South China Sea while visiting the northern Chinese port of Qingdao.

And, Reuters, today reported (http://www.reuters.com/article/us-southchinasea-china-images-idUSKCN10K08P) on China’s response to the CSIS photos and analysis.

Dive Deeper: For more on CSIS analysis on the South China Sea visit our Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (https://amti.csis.org/build-it-and-they-will-come/) interactive website.

** US Special Ops Aid Libyans Against ISIS
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US Special Operations forces are providing direct, on-the-ground support for the first time to fighters battling ISIS in Libya, US and Libyan officials said, coordinating American airstrikes and providing intelligence information in an effort to oust the group from a militant stronghold, as the
Washington Post’s Missy Ryan and Sudarsan Raghavan reported (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2016/08/09/u-s-special-operations-forces-are-providing-direct-on-the-ground-support-for-the-first-time-in-libya/) late this afternoon.

** Future of the Marines
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The Marine Corps has been grappling with what its future force structure will look like and this morning in a speech at CSIS, Marine Commandant Gen. Robert Neller said the Marines are looking into adding assistant squad leaders to its units who would be responsible for flying the squads unmanned aerial vehicles, as Scott Maucione of Federal News Radio reports (http://federalnewsradio.com/defense/2016/08/future-marine-corps-units-assistant-squad-leaders/) .

Dive Deeper: General Neller's full remarks at CSIS can be viewed O (https://www.csis.org/events/future-expeditionary-warfare-general-robert-neller) n Demand (https://www.csis.org/events/future-expeditionary-warfare-general-robert-neller) .

**
Budget Challenge
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As Business Insider’s Amanda Macias reports (http://www.businessinsider.com/budget-control-act-2016-8) , the next president of the United States will have less than 300 days to strike a budget deal with Congress or see America's defense funds slashed.

Dive Deeper: CSIS’s Todd Harrison’s recent Critical Questions (CSIS’s signature asked & answered series of short papers) “What Has the Budget Control Act of 2011 Meant for Defense (https://www.csis.org/analysis/what-has-budget-control-act-2011-meant-defense) ” and an accompanying CSIS Original Video “Five Years of the Budget Control Act (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICoyZ9y8-sQ) " are two important resources.

** In That Number
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** $50 million
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The amount of military assistance that the United States delivered to Lebanon today to help combat extremists near the Syrian border. Source: Washington Post (https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/us-gives-lebanon-50-million-of-new-military-assistance/2016/08/09/44110320-5e28-11e6-84c1-6d27287896b5_story.html) .

** Critical Quote
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** “Sophisticated cruise missile technologies now out there are not going away and we are going to have to find a way to deal with this—for the homeland, for allies and partners abroad, and for regional combatant commanders.”
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—CSIS’s Thomas Karako on lagging US cruise missile defenses. Source: Business Insider (http://www.businessinsider.com/us-military-lacks-cruise-missiles-defense-2016-8) .

** One to Watch
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Andrew Shearer is CSIS’s senior adviser on Asia-Pacific security and a former Australian national security adviser. He recently authored “Now’s Not the Time to Lower America’s Nuclear Guard, Mr. President (http://warontherocks.com/2016/08/nows-not-the-time-to-lower-americas-nuclear-guard-mr-president/) ” in War on the Rocks.

** Optics
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(Photo Credit: ALEXANDER NEMENOV/AFP/Getty Images)

Russian President Vladimir Putin (C-L) and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan (C-R) enter a hall to start their meeting with Russian and Turkish entrepreneurs in Konstantinovsky Palace outside Saint Petersburg today. Putin said that restoring trade ties with Turkey will take time and work, after his first meeting with counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan since Ankara shot down a Russian warplane last November.

** Highly Recommended
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“Here’s Why Turkey Will Have A Hard Time Extraditing Alleged Coup Leader (https://www.buzzfeed.com/borzoudaragahi/heres-why-turkey-will-have-a-hard-time-extraditing-alleged-c?utm_term=.tlAq76pxE#.wgwBeAw1r) ” by Buzzfeed’s Borzou Daragahi.

** CSIS Today
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CSIS’s International Security Program and the US Naval Institute cohosted a Maritime Security Dialogue (https://www.csis.org/events/future-expeditionary-warfare-general-robert-neller) on the future of expeditionary warfare, with General Robert B. Neller, commandant of the Marine Corps.

** This Town Tomorrow
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Join the Atlantic Council at 12:00 p.m. for “Cyber Risk Wednesday: A Public Policy Lens on the Hacker Conferences (http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/events/upcoming-events/detail/cyber-risk-wednesday-a-public-policy-lens-on-the-hacker-conferences) ,” featuring Lorrie Faith Cranor, chief technologist at the Federal Trade Commission.

** CSIS On Demand
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New York Times reporter Helene Cooper joined the CSIS Global Health Policy Center for “After the Ebola Frenzy: Media Lessons for Zika (https://www.csis.org/events/after-ebola-frenzy-media-lessons-zika) ,” in June.

** Sounds
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CSIS’s Todd Harrison joins the National Defense Week podcast (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/on-air-national-defense-week/id1104668882) this week to discuss the fifth anniversary of the Budget Control Act and its effect on defense budgets.

** I Like It Like That
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Producing a newspaper while trying to evade arrest has kept
Zambia Post news editor and deputy managing editor Joseph Mwenda on his toes since the Zambian government shut the Post newspaper down in June, citing tax fraud. The newspaper still manages to operate (http://en.rfi.fr/africa/20160809-locked-out-beaten-hiding-zambia-post-still-printing-ahead-elections) , on a shoestring budget, in an undisclosed location.

** Smiles
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Thanks to all the fans of Aaron Neville, New Orleans and Tulane who wrote last night about Aaron’s new record “Apache.”

It’s hard to believe, but Aaron tuned 75 last week. When I first met Aaron, he was my age now (48).

His music remains essential, timeless. Aaron released his classic “Tell It Like It Is” in 1966. Last week he performed it with an all-star cast of New Orleans musicians including his brother Charles and nephew Ian at the Brooklyn Bowl to celebrate his 75th. What a sweet smile (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97ub0-OMvMk) it is.

** Feedback
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I always welcome and benefit from your feedback. Please drop me a line at [email-masked] (mailto:[email-masked])

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The Evening CSIS is my daily guide to key insights CSIS brings to the events of the day. It is composed with the External Relations team: Colm Quinn, Brandon Schwartz, Jackie Ramsay, and James Dunton.

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