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The Evening CSIS: Chaos in Baghdad, Zika’s Bite, Meters & More
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Good Evening,

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 send me an email at aschwartz@csis.org (mailto:aschwartz@csis.org) .


** Chaos in Baghdad
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Sunday night protesters began to leave Baghdad’s Green Zone after days of protests that hinted at revolution, and as the New York Times’ Tim Arango reports (http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/03/world/middleeast/baghdad-iraq-green-zone-protests.html?_r=0) , questions remain about what brought on the chaos and why it ended so rapidly.

Dive Deeper: NPR’s Hannah Bloch on “The Man at the Center of Iraq’s Political Storm (http://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2016/05/02/476445162/the-man-at-the-center-of-iraqs-political-storm) .”

CSIS’s Anthony Cordesman’s seminal report Iraq in Crisis (http://csis.org/publication/iraq-crisis-1) is one of the most important resources for understanding the dynamics and history of Iraq’s problems.


** Partial Truce
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Syria’s military extended a unilateral cease-fire around Damascus and opposition strongholds in the eastern suburbs of the capital for another 48 hours today, as a humanitarian convoy delivered aid to 12,000 families trapped in a government-besieged area in central Syria. But, as the AP reports (http://www.wsj.com/articles/syrian-army-extends-damascus-cease-fire-1462199947) , the truce doesn’t cover Aleppo, the country’s largest city and the scene of its worst violence in recent weeks.

Meanwhile, Reuters reports (http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-kerry-idUSKCN0XT0JJ) that Washington and Moscow said today that they were working hard to extend the truce to Aleppo.

Dive Deeper: Financial Times’ columnist Gideon Rachman today writes that “Russia and the US can deliver peace in Syria (https://next.ft.com/content/4f3a1e5c-0e01-11e6-b41f-0beb7e589515) .”

Plus, see CSIS’s Anthony Cordesman’s mid-March commentary, “The Real Strategic Goal in Iraq and Syria: How Do You Bring Lasting Stability? (http://csis.org/publication/real-strategic-goal-iraq-and-syria-how-do-you-bring-lasting-stability) ”

In addition, a new video from Chatham House addresses “How Can Syria be Rebuilt? (https://www.chathamhouse.org/event/how-can-syria-be-rebuilt) ”


** Building Ties and Airstrips
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The Financial Times’ Ben Bland reports (https://next.ft.com/content/bd57f528-0e27-11e6-b41f-0beb7e589515) that China is actively working to build support for its position in the South China Sea ahead of the arbitration case brought by the Philippines.

Dive Deeper: CSIS’s Zack Cooper and Jake Douglas today authored new commentary for War on the Rocks, “Successful Signaling at Scarborough Shoal? (http://warontherocks.com/2016/05/successful-signaling-at-scarborough-shoal/) ”


** Zika Risk
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The Zika virus may be more dangerous than previously thought, according to Brazilian scientists, as the BBC reports (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-36184799) .

Dive Deeper: CSIS’s Stephen Morrison and the Baker Institute for Public Policy’s Peter Hotez today authored a commentary: “Ebola, Zika, and a Globalizing Texas (http://csis.org/publication/ebola-zika-and-globalizing-texas) .”


** In that Number
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** 976,000
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The number of migrants who were detained in a large Turkish air and seaborne operation today. Source: Reuters (http://csis.informz.net/z/cjUucD9taT01NDQ4NTEyJnA9MSZ1PTEwNjI1NTcxMTQmbGk9MzQxNDQ5NjM/index.html) .


** Critical Quote
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** “Critics are lining up to condemn the Obama administration’s apparent delay of a third freedom of navigation operation (FONOP) in the South China Sea as yet another sign of weakness, but there is larger strategic game underway that may explain the administration’s decision.”
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—CSIS fellow Zack Cooper and Jake Douglas authored “Successful Signaling at Scarborough Shoal? (http://warontherocks.com/2016/05/successful-signaling-at-scarborough-shoal/) ” today in War on the Rocks.
Source: War on the Rocks.


** One to Watch
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(Photo Credit: Twitter.)
Kate Conger (@kateconger (https://twitter.com/kateconger) ) joined TechCrunch last month where she covers cybersecurity and cyber policy. Kate previously served as managing editor of Ratter. For cybersecurity coverage, Kate is one to watch.


** Optics
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(Photo credit: HAIDAR MOHAMMED ALI/AFP/Getty Images)
Iraqis look at the damage following a car bomb targeting Shiite pilgrims heading to commemorate the death of Imam al-Kadhim in Baghdad's southern Saidiya neighborhood on May 2, 2016.


** Highly Recommended
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Former deputy director of the CIA Michael Morell authored “The Giant Al Qaeda Defeat That No One’s Talking About (http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/05/us-middle-east-victory-al-qaeda-213864) ” in POLITICO today.


** CSIS Today
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Today, CSIS’s Russia and Eurasia Program hosted “A Forgotten Conflict: Escalation in Nagorno-Karabakh (http://csis.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=833ec271d60c6750d9c3baaac&id=42a238b054&e=d556e146bd) .”

And CSIS’s Japan Chair and Korea Chair cohosted “Taking a Stand Together for Human Rights in North Korea (http://csis.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=833ec271d60c6750d9c3baaac&id=2d25edb3cb&e=d556e146bd) ,” a rare gathering of government officials from the United States, Japan, and the Republic of Korea for a discussion on human rights issues in North Korea.


** CSIS Tomorrow
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Join CSIS’s Energy and National Security Program tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. for “The Future of PHMSA (http://csis.org/event/future-phmsa) ” with administrator Marie Therese Dominguez of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.

And join CSIS’s Korea and Japan Chairs tomorrow at 9:15 a.m. for the 2016 JoongAng Ilbo–CSIS Forum, “Exploring a New Paradigm on the Korean Peninsula (http://csis.org/event/exploring-new-paradigm-korean-peninsula) ,” featuring Amb. Mark Lippert, Amb. Ahn Ho-Young, Amb. Richard Armitage, as well as the State Department’s Daniel Russel and former officials Wendy Sherman, Kurt Campbell, and Robert Einhorn.


** This Town Tomorrow
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Join GW’s Elliott School of International Affairs tomorrow at 12:00 p.m. for “The Case of South Africa’s Nuclear Armament and Disarmament: Lessons for Today (https://elliott.gwu.edu/calendar?trumbaEmbed=view%3Devent%26eventid%3D118856943) .”

Join Georgetown University’s Center for Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies on Thursday at 12:00 p.m. for “Struggle for Security in Syria & the Greater Middle East: View from Russia (https://www.eventbrite.com/e/struggle-for-security-in-syria-the-greater-middle-east-view-from-russia-tickets-25067486527) .”


** CSIS on Demand
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CSIS’s Andrew Hunter and Mark Cancian sat down with RealClearDefense editor David Craig for an in-depth interview on the Goldwater-Nichols Act and the status of defense reform efforts (http://www.realcleardefense.com/video/2016/05/01/csis_on_the_evolution_of_goldwaters-nichols.html) .


** Sounds
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Listen to “How Jamaica turned its debts around (http://podcast.ft.com/2016/04/29/how-jamaica-turned-its-debts-around/) ,” the final episode of the Financial Times’s four-part series on sovereign bankruptcy.


** I Like It Like That
Eye-catching things in CSIS's orbit
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The Wilson Center and the Brookings Institution have created a new online game called “The Fiscal Ship (http://fiscalship.org/) ,” which allows players with little background in the budget “to come up with their own plan to stabilize the debt without compromising their values.” Like it.


** Smiles
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Art Neville, George Porter Jr., Leo Nocentelli and Zig Modeliste—do those names mean anything to you? If they do, I don’t need to really say anything more, you are already smiling.

The names above comprise an incredibly influential American funk band from New Orleans called The Meters. The band formed in 1965 in the Crescent City. I don’t put much stock in who is in or not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but it’s a crime that The Meters haven’t been inducted. To put it simply, they are credited, along with James Brown as one of the key originators of funk music.

Art is now 78 years old—the rest of the guys are in their late 60s. They still get together to perform during Jazz Fest in New Orleans every now and then.

Last time they did, in May, 2012, it proved to be an incendiary performance at the Howlin’ Wolf nightclub. The audio from the show is available on iTunes and someone had the right mind to film a bit of it (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psPFhu4kKgw) too.

I met Art Neville a year or so after my grandfather died in 1987 and he proved to be an enormous influence on me during my formative undergraduate years. He still is. I love Art and I love The Meters—I hope you smile and enjoy this music, it is like nothing else before or since.


** Feedback
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I always welcome and benefit from your feedback. Please drop me a line at aschwartz@csis.org.


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