Subject: The Evening: White House Meetings, Venezuela on the Brink, Billions and More
From: "Andrew Schwartz" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 1 May 2017 21:54:05 +0000
List-Id: 833ec271d60c6750d9c3baaacmc list <833ec271d60c6750d9c3baaac.212205.list-id.mcsv.net>

The Evening: White House Meetings, Venezuela on the Brink, Billions and More
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** Good Evening,
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It's Monday, May 1st.

** Meet Up
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In an Oval Office interview (https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2017-05-01/trump-says-he-d-meet-with-north-korea-s-kim-if-situation-s-right?cmpid=socialflow-twitter-business&utm_content=business&utm_campaign=socialflow-organic&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=cf291207d2-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_05_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-cf291207d2-145367789) today by Bloomberg’s Margaret Talev and Jennifer Jacobs, President Donald Trump said he would meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un amid heightened tensions over his country’s nuclear weapons program if the circumstances were right.

Dive Deeper: See the Brookings report “Averting Catastrophe: US Policy Options for North Korea (https://www.brookings.edu/research/averting-catastrophe-u-s-policy-options-for-north-korea/?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=cf291207d2-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_05_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-cf291207d2-145367789) ,” by Bruce Jones, John Allen, Richard Bush, Robert Einhorn, Steven Pifer, Jonathan Pollack, and Evans Revere.

Also see CSIS’s interactive micro-website “Beyond Parallel (http://beyondparallel.csis.org/?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=cf291207d2-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_05_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-cf291207d2-145367789) .”

** Tied Up
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President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines said today that he might not accept President Trump’s invitation to visit the White House because he was “tied up” with a busy schedule, as the
New York Times’ Felipe Villamor reports (https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/01/world/asia/trump-philippines-duterte.html?_r=0&utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=cf291207d2-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_05_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-cf291207d2-145367789) .

** Syria's Chemical Attacks
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The Syrian government has employed nerve agents in at least four separate attacks since December 2016, Human Rights Watch said in a new report, alleging a new level of banned chemical weapons use that is “widespread and systematic,” as the
Washington Post’s Missy Ryan reports (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2017/05/01/chemical-attack-in-syria-that-drew-u-s-response-was-just-one-in-a-series-rights-group-alleges/?tid=ss_tw&utm_term=.1053a7c75392&utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=cf291207d2-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_05_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-cf291207d2-145367789) .

Dive Deeper: See CFR’s timeline “Syria’s War: The Descent Into Horror (http://www.cfr.org/syria/syrias-civil-war-descent-into-horror/p37668?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=cf291207d2-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_05_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-cf291207d2-145367789#!/) .”

** Venezuela on the Brink
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During his weekly televised address Sunday, Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro announced that he was ordering a countrywide minimum wage hike. Beginning today, Venezuelans on the lowest rung of the economic ladder can expect a 60 percent boost to their monthly wages, as NPR’s Colin Dwyer reports (http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/05/01/526387865/venezuelan-president-bumps-up-minimum-wage-amid-weeks-of-public-upheaval?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=cf291207d2-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_05_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-cf291207d2-145367789) .

Dive Deeper: CSIS’s Adam Sieminski and Andrew Stanley have a new commentary: “Venezuela: Progressively Worse, But Hanging On (https://www.csis.org/analysis/venezuela-progressively-worse-hanging-on/?block3&utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=cf291207d2-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_05_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-cf291207d2-145367789) .”

** In That Number
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** 5,160
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The number of security incidents that the United Nations recorded in Afghanistan between November 2016 and February 2017—the highest number recorded since UN reporting began in 2007. Source: Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) (https://www.sigar.mil/pdf/quarterlyreports/2017-04-30qr.pdf?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=cf291207d2-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_05_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-cf291207d2-145367789) .

Dive Deeper: Today, CSIS’s Anthony H. Cordesman released a new report, The Afghan War: Creating an Afghan Capability to Win (https://csis-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/publication/170501_Afghanistan_War_Creating_Capability_Win.pdf?jtFFj225lYOQ4LV07vXRZkiK4a2R7Aq9&utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=cf291207d2-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_05_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-cf291207d2-145367789) .

** Critical Quote
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** “The amount in (Trump’s) request is perfectly reasonable; it’s not much more than what Obama proposed. What is unrealistic is that it’s paid for by the non-defense budget.”
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—CSIS’s Todd Harrison on the looming budget fight and its implications for President Trump’s military spending plans. Source: McClatchy (http://www.modbee.com/news/politics-government/article147498474.html?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=cf291207d2-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_05_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-cf291207d2-145367789) .

** iDeas Lab
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CSIS’s China Power Project has a new interactive feature, “How well-off is China’s middle class? (http://chinapower.csis.org/china-middle-class/?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=cf291207d2-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_05_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-cf291207d2-145367789) ”

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

** Optics
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(Photo Credit: Yasin Akgul/AFP/Getty Images.)
Turkish riot police clash with a group of protesters as they attempt to defy a ban and march on Taksim Square to celebrate May Day today in Istanbul.

** Recommended Reading
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Japan is sharply divided over revising its pacifist Constitution, as the
Japan Times underscores in this piece (http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/04/30/national/japanese-divided-revising-article-9-amid-north-korea-threats-poll/?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=cf291207d2-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_05_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-cf291207d2-145367789#.WQdsTVXytQJ) .

** This Town Tomorrow
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Join CSIS’s International Security Program at 11:00 a.m. for a Maritime Security Dialogue (https://www.csis.org/events/congress-navy-view-hill?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=cf291207d2-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_05_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-cf291207d2-145367789) with Representative Rob Wittman (R-VA), chairman of the Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee, and Representative Joe Courtney (D-CT), ranking member of the Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee.

And join Brookings at 9:00 a.m. for a discussion onthe future of U.S.-Japan economic relations (https://www.brookings.edu/events/continuity-and-change-in-u-s-japan-economic-relations/?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=cf291207d2-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_05_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-cf291207d2-145367789) .

** On Demand
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Today, CSIS hosted “The Role of Multi-Sector Partnerships in the New Development Era,” which you can watch on demand here (https://www.csis.org/events/role-multi-sector-partnerships-new-development-era?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=cf291207d2-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_05_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-cf291207d2-145367789) .

Dive Deeper: Also today, CSIS’s Greg Huger released a new report, Leveraging USAID through Private-Sector and Military Partnerships (https://csis-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/publication/170501_Huger_LeveragingUSAID_Web.pdf?7j0PGfQdDbyCGdquB5Z6OsdDQPoc8jR9&utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=cf291207d2-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_05_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-cf291207d2-145367789) .

** Sounds
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The latest from ChinaPower debriefs Hong Kong’s recent election: what’s next for democracy in Hong Kong and how Beijing’s influence plays a role.

You can listen on iTunes (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/chinapower/id1144663360?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=cf291207d2-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_05_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-cf291207d2-145367789) or SoundCloud (https://soundcloud.com/csis-57169780/the-future-of-democracy-in-hong-kong-a-conversation-with-david-zweig?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=cf291207d2-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_05_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-cf291207d2-145367789) .

** Smiles
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SPOILER ALERT! Do not read any further if you are a fan of the Showtime hit “Billions.”

“Billions” is a guilty, wicked pleasure of a television show. It’s chock full of hateful, nihilistic, cut-throat characters who exist only to derive intense pleasure from making others miserable. Somehow, it holds an artful, evil beauty. Maybe I revel in it because it makes New York come off as more embarrassingly self-possessed than Washington.

The latest “Billions” episode, “Golden Frog Time,” is a freight train hurtling down the track to oblivion. Stylistically, it pays homage to Scorsese and doesn’t miss a mark. It’s one of the best hours of television I’ve seen in a long time (and there is a lot of great stuff out there.) Without getting into the storyline of “Golden Frog Time,” the episode is framed around one of my favorite Tom Petty tunes “Even the Losers (Get Lucky Sometimes) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0el_8ZKw7w&utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=cf291207d2-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_05_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-cf291207d2-145367789) .” Thus, today’s smile, a classic performance by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers in ’86 at Farm Aid complete with blistering Mike Campbell guitar riffs.
I invite you to email me at [email-masked] and follow me on Twitter @handrewschwartz (https://www.twitter.com/handrewschwartz?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=cf291207d2-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_05_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-cf291207d2-145367789)

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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: Colm Quinn, Brandon Schwartz, and Jackie Ramsay.

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