Subject: The Evening CSIS: Tillerson to Russia, Ahmadinejad Is Back, Over the Hills and Far Away
From: "Andrew Schwartz" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 12 Apr 2017 22:13:40 +0000
List-Id: 833ec271d60c6750d9c3baaacmc list <833ec271d60c6750d9c3baaac.212205.list-id.mcsv.net>

The Evening CSIS: Tillerson to Russia, Ahmadinejad Is Back, Over the Hills and Far Away
------------------------------------------------------------
Email not displaying correctly?
View it in your browser (http://mailchi.mp/csis/the-evening-csis-tillerson-to-russia-ahmadinejad-is-back-over-the-hills-and-far-away?e=e55aaf27de) .

** Good Evening,
------------------------------------------------------------
It's Wednesday, April 12.

** Eroded Trust
------------------------------------------------------------
President Vladimir Putin of Russia said today that trust had eroded between the United States and Russia under President Donald Trump, as Moscow delivered an unusually hostile reception to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in a face-off over Syria, as Reuters’ Yeganeh Torbati and Denis Dyomkin report (http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-russia-idUSKBN17E1AF?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=91395b995d-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_04_12&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-91395b995d-145367789) .

And, in New York, Russia vetoed a UN Security Council resolution demanding that Bashar al-Assad’s government cooperate with an investigation into the deadly toxic gas attack in northern Syria that the US and allies blame on the regime, as Bloomberg’s Kambiz Foroohar reports (https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2017-04-12/russia-vetoes-united-nations-investigation-of-syria-gas-attack?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=91395b995d-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_04_12&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-91395b995d-145367789) .

** Ahmadinejad is Back
------------------------------------------------------------
Former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has defied the advice of the Islamic Republic’s supreme leader and registered to run again for the nation’s presidency, as AP reports (http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/ahmadinejad-filing-iran-s-presidency-why-it-matters-n745681?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=91395b995d-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_04_12&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-91395b995d-145367789) .

The New York Times’ Thomas Erdbrink reports (https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/12/world/middleeast/mahmoud-ahmadinejad-iran-presidential-election.html?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=91395b995d-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_04_12&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-91395b995d-145367789) that Ahmadinejad’s move was an unexpected decision likely to present a test for Iran’s establishment as it prepares for the presidential election on May 19.

Dive Deeper: Against this backdrop CFR examines if the nuclear agreement will hold (http://www.cfr.org/iran/impact-iran-nuclear-agreement/p39032?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=91395b995d-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_04_12&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-91395b995d-145367789) .

** Venezuela Opposition
------------------------------------------------------------
Venezuela’s opposition is putting up its most determined challenge to President Nicolás Maduro in years, with near-daily protests that are backed by widening international condemnation of the government’s authoritarian rule, as the
Washington Post’s Mariana Zuniga and Nick Miroff report (https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/venezuelas-opposition-holds-its-biggest-protests-in-years-will-they-change-anything/2017/04/11/edbe9952-1e06-11e7-bb59-a74ccaf1d02f_story.html?utm_term=.65edf729ca9f&utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=91395b995d-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_04_12&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-91395b995d-145367789) .

Dive Deeper: CSIS’s Moises Rendon has a new commentary: “Venezuela in Dictatorship: How the United States and the International Community Can Help (https://www.csis.org/analysis/venezuela-dictatorship-how-united-states-and-international-community-can-help?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=91395b995d-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_04_12&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-91395b995d-145367789) .”

** In That Number
------------------------------------------------------------

** 12
------------------------------------------------------------
The Trump administration is considering selling up to 12 light aircraft to Nigeria. The planes would be used to fight Boko Haram.
Source: New York Times (https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/11/world/africa/us-warplanes-nigeria-boko-haram.html?_r=1&utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=91395b995d-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_04_12&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-91395b995d-145367789) .

** Critical Quote
------------------------------------------------------------

** “The message that net oil imports will continue to grow is clearly recognized by the Chinese government, but with this increasing reliance and vulnerability, what solution if any does the government have?”
------------------------------------------------------------
—CSIS’s Sarah Ladislaw, Adam Sieminski, and Andrew Stanley’s “Energy Fact & Opinion: China's Net Oil Import Problem (https://www.csis.org/analysis/energy-fact-opinion-chinas-net-oil-import-problem?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=91395b995d-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_04_12&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-91395b995d-145367789) .”

** iDeas Lab
------------------------------------------------------------
The CSIS Missile Defense Project recently released a new report, Missile Defense 2020: Next Steps for Defending the Homeland (https://missilethreat.csis.org/missile-defense-2020/?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=91395b995d-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_04_12&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-91395b995d-145367789) . The report has over 20 graphs and illustrations to help explain how the current U.S. missile defense system works, current and potential plans to modernize the system, and recommendations for its future evolution.

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: Alexander Nemenov/AFP/Getty Images.)
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov (R) and US secretary of state Rex Tillerson arrive to attend a press conference after their talks today in Moscow.

** Recommended Reading
------------------------------------------------------------
“France’s far-left presidential candidate launched a video game where he steals money from the rich—and he’s gaining in the polls (https://qz.com/954467/frances-far-left-presidential-candidate-launched-a-video-game-where-he-steals-money-from-the-rich-and-hes-gaining-in-the-polls/?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=91395b995d-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_04_12&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-91395b995d-145367789) ,” via Quartz’s Robin Des Bois.

** This Town Tomorrow
------------------------------------------------------------
Mike Pompeo, director of the Central Intelligence Agency, will discuss national security at CSIS at 3:30 p.m. The event has reached capacity, but you can watch the live webcast here (https://www.csis.org/events/national-security-cia-director-mike-pompeo/?block1&utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=91395b995d-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_04_12&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-91395b995d-145367789) .

The Council on Foreign Relations is hosting a discussion of the significant economic, political, demographic, and military trends in Russia at 9:45 a.m. Watch the live webcast here (http://www.cfr.org/russian-federation/russia-today/p39004?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=91395b995d-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_04_12&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-91395b995d-145367789) .

Join the Wilson Center at 3:30 p.m. for “Re-Conceptualizing the Russian Legal Tradition: Imperial Roots and Modern Reality (https://www.wilsoncenter.org/event/re-conceptualizing-the-russian-legal-tradition-imperial-roots-and-modern-reality?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=91395b995d-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_04_12&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-91395b995d-145367789) .”

** On Demand
------------------------------------------------------------
Yesterday, the CSIS Japan Chair hosted the book launch of By More than Providence: Grand Strategy and American Power in the Asia Pacific Since 1783 (https://www.csis.org/events/book-launch-more-providence?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=91395b995d-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_04_12&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-91395b995d-145367789) , by Michael J. Green, senior vice president for Asia and Japan Chair at CSIS.

** Sounds
------------------------------------------------------------
CSIS’s Proliferation Prevention Program released six podcasts on transparency and nuclear weapons this week. You can listen on iTunes (https://itunes.apple.com/us/itunes-u/tracking-nuclear-weapons-programs/id1225373029?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=91395b995d-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_04_12&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-91395b995d-145367789) or SoundCloud (https://soundcloud.com/csis-57169780/nuclear-arsenals-transparency-and-disarmament?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=91395b995d-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_04_12&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-91395b995d-145367789) .

** Smiles
------------------------------------------------------------
Last week Evening CSIS readers requested more Jimmy Page and Led Zeppelin. Who are we to disappoint? (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvG4VGnjpsg&utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=91395b995d-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_04_12&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-91395b995d-145367789)
I invite you to email me at [email-masked] (mailto:[email-masked]) and follow me on twitter @handrewschwartz (https://twitter.com/handrewschwartz?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=91395b995d-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_04_12&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-91395b995d-145367789)

============================================================
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, and Jackie Ramsay.

Follow CSIS

** (https://twitter.com/CSIS?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=91395b995d-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_04_12&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-91395b995d-145367789)
** (https://www.facebook.com/CSIS.org?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=91395b995d-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_04_12&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-91395b995d-145367789)
** (http://us11.forward-to-friend.com/forward?u=833ec271d60c6750d9c3baaac&id=91395b995d&e=e55aaf27de)

Connect w/ H. Andrew Schwartz

** (https://twitter.com/handrewschwartz?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=91395b995d-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_04_12&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-91395b995d-145367789)
** (https://www.linkedin.com/in/hschwartz1?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=91395b995d-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_04_12&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-91395b995d-145367789)
** (mailto:[email-masked]?subject=Evening CSIS)
Copyright © 2017 Center for Strategic & International Studies, All rights reserved.

202-887-0200 | ** www.CSIS.org (http://www.CSIS.org?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=91395b995d-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_04_12&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-91395b995d-145367789)

Center for Strategic & International Studies
1616 Rhode Island Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036
USA

** Update preferences/unsubscribe (https://www.csis.org/subscribe/manage/f326fc46b6/Q0bCCU-l2XPZXtjoZtuRX6Po26GKOlr188l9-Uh0yk8?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=91395b995d-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_04_12&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-91395b995d-145367789)

This email was sent to [email-masked] (mailto:[email-masked])
why did I get this? (http://csis.us11.list-manage.com/about?u=833ec271d60c6750d9c3baaac&id=f326fc46b6&e=e55aaf27de&c=91395b995d)     unsubscribe from this list (http://csis.us11.list-manage1.com/unsubscribe?u=833ec271d60c6750d9c3baaac&id=f326fc46b6&e=e55aaf27de&c=91395b995d)     update subscription preferences (http://csis.us11.list-manage1.com/profile?u=833ec271d60c6750d9c3baaac&id=f326fc46b6&e=e55aaf27de)
Center for Strategic & International Studies . 1616 Rhode Island Avenue, NW . Washington, DC 20036 . U