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The Evening: Twitter Turns Off, Clashes, Ain’t That A Shame and More
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** Good Evening,
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It's Thursday, October 26th.


** Twitter Turns Off
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Twitter made the policy decision to off-board advertising from all accounts owned by Russia Today (RT) and Sputnik, effective immediately, as the social media company announced (https://blog.twitter.com/official/en_us/topics/company/2017/Announcement-RT-and-Sputnik-Advertising.html?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=bd6bd54e8e-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_10_26&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-bd6bd54e8e-145367789) Thursday. The decision is based on retrospective work being done around the 2016 U.S. election and the U.S. intelligence community’s conclusion that both RT and Sputnik attempted to interfere with the election on behalf of the Russian government.


** Drones in Niger
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The Trump administration is paving the way for lethal strikes against terrorists in Niger as the U.S. military pushes forward with a plan to arm the Reaper drones that fly over the country, as NBC News reports (https://www.nbcnews.com/news/africa/u-s-now-moving-toward-armed-drones-lethal-force-niger-n814341?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=bd6bd54e8e-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_10_26&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-bd6bd54e8e-145367789) .

The move would mark a dramatic escalation in the United States’ use of drones to conduct counterterrorism operations in Africa. There have been occasional strikes in Libya and Somalia, but drones have not typically been used on the continent, as the Hill reports (http://thehill.com/policy/defense/357308-us-pressing-niger-to-allow-armed-drones-report?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=bd6bd54e8e-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_10_26&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-bd6bd54e8e-145367789) .

Dive Deeper: See CSIS’s Alice Friend on "What Does Niger Have to Do with the AUMF? (https://www.csis.org/analysis/what-does-niger-have-do-aumf?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=bd6bd54e8e-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_10_26&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-bd6bd54e8e-145367789) "


** Clash Near Strategic Border
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Iraqi forces backed by Iranian-allied militias began an assault Thursday to reclaim more Kurdish-held territory in Iraq, advancing toward a crossing in the western border region that provides the only access for U.S. military operations in northern Syria, as the
Washington Post reports (https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/iraqi-forces-clash-with-kurdish-troops-near-strategic-border-with-syria/2017/10/26/2f0987bc-ba30-11e7-be94-fabb0f1e9ffb_story.html?utm_term=.803c4694f44b&utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=bd6bd54e8e-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_10_26&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-bd6bd54e8e-145367789) .

A protracted fight over border crossings could severely disrupt U.S. military activity in neighboring Syria and strain the capabilities of aid organizations in the region.


**
Catalan Crisis Deepens
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Despite calls for a snap election, Catalonia’s separatist leader, Carles Puigdemont, announced on Thursday that he would place a decision on independence from Spain before the region’s Parliament, as Reuters reports (https://www.reuters.com/article/us-spain-politics-catalonia/catalonias-leader-rules-out-snap-election-crisis-deepens-idUSKBN1CV2B9?il=0&utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=bd6bd54e8e-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_10_26&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-bd6bd54e8e-145367789) .

The move by Puigdemont virtually ensures that the central government in Madrid will take control of the restive region, using its emergency constitutional powers.

Dive Deeper: This episode (https://soundcloud.com/csis-57169780/catalonia-s-independence-push?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=bd6bd54e8e-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_10_26&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-bd6bd54e8e-145367789) of the CSIS Podcast explores the roots of Catalonia’s independence drive.


** Kenya's Rerun
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Kenya held a rerun of its botched presidential election Thursday, but the opposition boycotted and clashes broke out between police and protesters, threatening further political turmoil in one of sub-Saharan Africa’s key economies, as the Washington Post reports (https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/police-clash-with-protesters-as-kenya-election-re-run-opens/2017/10/26/7c00e56e-b5cc-11e7-9b93-b97043e57a22_story.html?utm_term=.5dac8981340c&utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=bd6bd54e8e-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_10_26&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-bd6bd54e8e-145367789) .

Dive Deeper: CSIS’s Africa Program has a commentary: “Kenya’s Young Democracy Put to the Test (https://www.csis.org/analysis/kenyas-young-democracy-put-test?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=bd6bd54e8e-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_10_26&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-bd6bd54e8e-145367789) .”


** In That Number
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** 1.9 Million
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Twitter has decided to take the $1.9 million they are projected to have earned from RT global advertising since they became an advertiser in 2011 and donate those funds to support external research into the use of Twitter in civic engagement and elections. Source: Twitter (https://blog.twitter.com/official/en_us/topics/company/2017/Announcement-RT-and-Sputnik-Advertising.html?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=bd6bd54e8e-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_10_26&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-bd6bd54e8e-145367789) .


** Critical Quote
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** “A preventive military strike would not destroy all of North Korea's capabilities.”
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— CSIS’s Michael Green (http://www.newsweek.com/us-preemptive-strike-north-korea-would-kill-millions-and-risk-unacceptable-war-693466?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=bd6bd54e8e-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_10_26&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-bd6bd54e8e-145367789) .


** iDeas Lab
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Die Welt
An interactive feature from CSIS’s China Power Project (https://chinapower.csis.org/china-face-looming-debt-crisis/?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=bd6bd54e8e-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_10_26&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-bd6bd54e8e-145367789) compares China’s corporate, government, and household debt with those of over 40 other countries.

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: Jack Taylor/Getty Images.) Protesters demonstrate during a Catalan pro-independence strike of university students today in Barcelona.


** Recommended Reading
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“How Were China’s Top Leaders Selected? (https://thediplomat.com/2017/10/how-were-chinas-top-leaders-selected/?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=bd6bd54e8e-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_10_26&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-bd6bd54e8e-145367789) ,” by the
Diplomat’s Charlotte Gao.


** This Town Tomorrow
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Join the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace at 11:00 a.m. for “The Path Forward on Iran: Contain, Enforce, Engage (http://carnegieendowment.org/2017/10/26/path-forward-on-iran-contain-enforce-engage-event-5722?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=bd6bd54e8e-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_10_26&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-bd6bd54e8e-145367789) .”

At 12:30 p.m., the Council on Foreign Relations will host a discussion on global public opinion toward democracy (https://www.cfr.org/event/public-perspectives-toward-democracy?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=bd6bd54e8e-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_10_26&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-bd6bd54e8e-145367789) amid the rise of populism and the implications for U.S. foreign policy.

Also at 12:30 p.m., join the Elliott School of International Affairs for a discussion on what China has learned about cyber warfare (https://elliott.gwu.edu/calendar?trumbaEmbed=view%3Devent%26eventid%3D125326065&utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=bd6bd54e8e-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_10_26&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-bd6bd54e8e-145367789) from the United States.


** Video
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CSIS's Christopher Johnson sat down with PBS News Hour (https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/what-xi-jinpings-power-play-means-for-u-s-china-relations?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=bd6bd54e8e-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_10_26&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-bd6bd54e8e-145367789) to speak about Xi Jinping, China’s 19thParty Congress, and U.S.-China relations.


** Sounds
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The latest episode of 35 West features a former assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs discussing the Colombian peace process failures, the realities of the FARC, and Venezuela’s elections.

Listen on Apple Podcasts (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/35-west/id1288098233?mt=2&utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=bd6bd54e8e-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_10_26&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-bd6bd54e8e-145367789) or SoundCloud (https://soundcloud.com/csis-57169780/peace-out-roger-noriega-on-colombia-and-venezuela?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=bd6bd54e8e-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_10_26&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-bd6bd54e8e-145367789) .


** Smiles
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An encore for the great Fats Domino. Thanks to all who wrote me about Fats last night. I think all Americans of a certain age carry a little bit of Fats with them, and the younger crowd (like my sons) do too, but they just don’t know it yet.

If you listen to rock and roll, rhythm and blues or even rap, Fats had some influence on it.

I have a New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival poster of Fats Domino hanging over my desk in my office. It’s a prized possession. It’s the 2006 official Festival poster painted by James Michalopoulos. Fats had to cancel his performance in 2006. He wasn’t well enough. But he was then and will always be at the New Orleans Jazz Fest in spirit.

Here’s some more vintage Fats (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiAj7GH61hQ&utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=bd6bd54e8e-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_10_26&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-bd6bd54e8e-145367789) , this time from the Northsea Jazz Festival in The Netherlands, 1980. If you liked yesterday’s Fats clip, you will love this. Everybody smile now…
I invite you to email me at aschwartz@csis.org (mailto:aschwartz@csis.org) and follow me on Twitter @handrewschwartz (https://www.twitter.com/handrewschwartz?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=bd6bd54e8e-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_10_26&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-bd6bd54e8e-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, Sofie Kodner, and Jackie Ramsay.

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