Subject: The Evening: NK, Cuba, Mali Blues and More
From: "Andrew Schwartz" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 9 Aug 2017 21:54:43 +0000
List-Id: 833ec271d60c6750d9c3baaacmc list <833ec271d60c6750d9c3baaac.293989.list-id.mcsv.net>

The Evening: NK, Cuba, Mali Blues and More
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** Good Evening,
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It's Wednesday, August 9th.

Note: The Evening will be “gone fishin’” until next Monday, August 14.

** Nuclear Arsenal
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President Trump today touted the American nuclear arsenal’s strength, vowing “there will never be a time that we are not the most powerful nation in the world,” as the
Wall Street Journal’s Paul Sonne and Louise Radnofsky report (https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-boasts-u-s-nuclear-arsenal-is-more-powerful-than-ever-1502283638?utm_source=Press&utm_campaign=aa789245aa-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_08_09&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_7623d157be-aa789245aa-170891109) .

Bloomberg’s Nafeesa Syeed reports (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-09/trump-s-nuclear-weapons-arsenal-isn-t-any-different-than-obama-s?utm_source=Press&utm_campaign=aa789245aa-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_08_09&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_7623d157be-aa789245aa-170891109) that the Trump administration’s “Nuclear Weapons Arsenal Isn’t Any Different Than Obama’s.”

Meanwhile, Vox’s Alex Ward explains NK’s threat against Guam (https://www.vox.com/world/2017/8/9/16118078/north-korea-guam-bases-trump?utm_source=Press&utm_campaign=aa789245aa-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_08_09&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_7623d157be-aa789245aa-170891109) .

Dive Deeper: CSIS’s Anthony Cordesman has a new commentary: “Keeping the North Korean Threat in Proportion (https://www.csis.org/analysis/keeping-north-korean-threat-proportion/?block1&utm_source=Press&utm_campaign=aa789245aa-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_08_09&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_7623d157be-aa789245aa-170891109) .”

Read Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists’ Elisabeth Eaves: “Talk to North Korea to avert a nuclear disaster: an interview with Siegfried Hecker. (http://thebulletin.org/talk-north-korea-avert-nuclear-disaster-interview-siegfried-hecker10996?utm_source=Press&utm_campaign=aa789245aa-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_08_09&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_7623d157be-aa789245aa-170891109) ”

** Cuba Incidents
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The State Department has expelled two diplomats from the Cuban embassy in Washington, following a series of unexplained incidents in Cuba that left U.S. officials there with physical symptoms, as the AP’s Matthew Lee reports (https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-expels-2-cuban-diplomats-after-incidents-in-cuba/2017/08/09/21baff58-7d2e-11e7-b2b1-aeba62854dfa_story.html?utm_term=.5bbc45cc91c9&utm_source=Press&utm_campaign=aa789245aa-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_08_09&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_7623d157be-aa789245aa-170891109) .

** Venezuelan Conflict
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A Venezuelan mayor-turned-fugitive has called for antigovernment protesters to keep defying leftist President Nicolas Maduro, who has grabbed increased powers through a new legislative superbody stacked with Socialist Party loyalists, as Reuters’ Hugh Bronstein reports (http://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-politics-idUSKBN1AP1PO?il=0&utm_source=Press&utm_campaign=aa789245aa-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_08_09&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_7623d157be-aa789245aa-170891109) .

Dive Deeper: See “Venezuela’s Postcrisis Recovery and Reform (https://www.csis.org/analysis/venezuelas-postcrisis-recovery-and-reform?utm_source=Press&utm_campaign=aa789245aa-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_08_09&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_7623d157be-aa789245aa-170891109) ” by CSIS’s Moises Rendon.

See the Inter American Dialogue’s “After the Vote: Is Venezuela Sliding Into Civil War? (http://www.thedialogue.org/blogs/2017/08/after-the-vote-is-there-any-hope-for-venezuela/?utm_source=Press&utm_campaign=aa789245aa-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_08_09&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_7623d157be-aa789245aa-170891109) ”

** In That Number
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** 6,000
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The number of U.S. troops housed in Guam. Source: Vox (https://www.vox.com/world/2017/8/9/16118078/north-korea-guam-bases-trump?utm_source=Press&utm_campaign=aa789245aa-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_08_09&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_7623d157be-aa789245aa-170891109) .

** Critical Quote
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** “The DPRK regime’s actions will continue to be grossly overmatched by ours and would lose any arms race or conflict it initiates.”
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—Secretary of Defense James Mattis, August 9, 2017

** iDeas Lab
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Die Welt
Missile Threat recently released a feature on the Patriot missile defense system (https://missilethreat.csis.org/system/patriot/?utm_source=Press&utm_campaign=aa789245aa-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_08_09&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_7623d157be-aa789245aa-170891109) . Explore a 3-D model of the MIM-104 Patriot Launcher here (https://sketchfab.com/models/68f874853be6481db434ea4bf71bb5fa?utm_source=Press&utm_campaign=aa789245aa-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_08_09&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_7623d157be-aa789245aa-170891109) .

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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Die Welt
(Photo Credit: Air Force Tech. Sgt. Brigitte N. Brantley.)
Defense Secretary James Mattis speaks with students in the Capstone General and Flag Officer course yesterday at the Pentagon. The Capstone curriculum examines major issues affecting national security, military strategy, and interoperability.

** Recommended Reading
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CSIS’s Chris Johnson has a new report out today: “Chinese Politics Has No Rules, But It May Be Good if Xi Jinping Breaks Them (https://www.csis.org/analysis/chinese-politics-has-no-rules-it-may-be-good-if-xi-jinping-breaks-them?utm_source=Press&utm_campaign=aa789245aa-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_08_09&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_7623d157be-aa789245aa-170891109) .”

** CSIS Next Week
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CSIS’s Africa Program will review Kenya’s elections results (https://www.csis.org/events/kenya-elections-review?utm_source=Press&utm_campaign=aa789245aa-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_08_09&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_7623d157be-aa789245aa-170891109) on Wednesday, August 16, at 2:30 p.m.

Dive Deeper: Catch up on the Kenya Elections Preview (https://www.csis.org/events/kenya-elections-preview?utm_source=Press&utm_campaign=aa789245aa-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_08_09&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_7623d157be-aa789245aa-170891109) event CSIS hosted last month.

** On Demand
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CSIS hosted “The Origins of America’s Asian Alliances and Lessons for the Future (https://www.csis.org/events/origins-americas-asian-alliances-and-lessons-future?utm_source=Press&utm_campaign=aa789245aa-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_08_09&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_7623d157be-aa789245aa-170891109) ,” a discussion on rising threats and shifting geopolitical realities in Asia.

** Sounds
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CogitAsia’s latest podcast explores how the United States can change its policy approach to the South China Sea.

Listen on iTunes (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/cogitasia/id962095834?utm_source=Press&utm_campaign=aa789245aa-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_08_09&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_7623d157be-aa789245aa-170891109) or SoundCloud (https://soundcloud.com/csis-57169780/changing-the-u-s-policy?utm_source=Press&utm_campaign=aa789245aa-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_08_09&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_7623d157be-aa789245aa-170891109) .

** Smiles
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In my view rock and roll’s most essential ingredient is the blues. As most people know it, the blues originated in Louisiana and Mississippi and then migrated around the world. But that’s not the whole story. The blues has its roots in Africa and has had an ongoing presence in the music of the West African nation of Mali.

As a terrific new music documentary called “Mali Blues” details, Islamists have banned playing and even listening to music in Mali, causing musicians to flee out of fear for their lives to the country's relatively more liberal south. The film is a must see.

And if you’ve never heard them before, the Tuareg rock band Tinariwen from Mali is a must listen. On their newest album, “Elwan,” released last February, the band’s blazing guitars are as hot as the desert sands from which they hail.

I just heard Tinariwen’s new album a week ago in Tel Aviv while eating in a modern Arab/Israeli restaurant called Maiar. It was quite a setting in which to experience their music. The band Radiohead had dined at Maiar the week before in the same moonlit courtyard as we did (I know this because the same guy who sent us to Maiar sent Radiohead there.) The food at Maiar is incredible and the chef has equally superb taste in music. Here’s some of the musical flavor to sample (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vACZA9dGvV4&utm_source=Press&utm_campaign=aa789245aa-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_08_09&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_7623d157be-aa789245aa-170891109) .
I invite you to email me at [email-masked] (mailto:[email-masked]) and follow me on Twitter @handrewschwartz (https://www.twitter.com/handrewschwartz?utm_source=Press&utm_campaign=aa789245aa-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_08_09&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_7623d157be-aa789245aa-170891109)

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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, Sofie Kodner, and Jackie Ramsay.

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