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The Evening CSIS: Backing Libya, Kabul Lockdown, Jazz Fest & 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) .


** Backing Libya
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The US and other world powers said today following talks in Vienna that they are ready to supply Libya’s internationally recognized government in Tripoli with specific weapons to counter ISIS, as well as to train the new Libyan government’s presidential guard, as the Guardian’s Patrick Wintour reports (http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/16/world-powers-prepared-arm-un-backed-libyan-government) .

And, as the Washington Post’s Carol Morello reports (https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/report-us-and-allies-ready-to-help-arm-libyan-forces-against-islamic-state/2016/05/16/024d0d6a-1b77-11e6-b6e0-c53b7ef63b45_story.html) , Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters “It’s a delicate balance.”

Dive Deeper: For more on the Joint Communique, the State department provided this release (http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2016/05/257236.htm) .


** Kabul on Lockdown
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Thousands of demonstrators from Afghanistan’s Hazara minority marched in protest through Kabul on Monday, accusing President Ashraf Ghani’s government of cutting them out of a multimillion-dollar power transmission line project, as Reuters reports (http://www.reuters.com/article/us-afghanistan-protests-idUSKCN0Y70BW) .

Dive Deeper: The BBC has a smart Q&A on “What's behind Afghan power project protests? (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-36305567) ”


** Not the Only One
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China isn’t the only one building islands in the South China Sea, as Jeremy Bender of Business Insider reports (http://www.businessinsider.com/vietnam-building-islands-in-south-china-sea-2016-5) .

But in the Pentagon’s annual review of China’s military power released Friday, DOD said China has reclaimed more than 3,200 acres of land in parts of the South China Sea over two years using “coercive tactics short of armed conflict,” as Paul Sonne of the Wall Street Journal reports (http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-report-decries-beijings-sea-tactics-1463182533) .

Dive Deeper: CSIS’s Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI), an interactive micro-website developed with the CSIS iDeas Lab, published a new feature last Friday: “Vietnam’s Island Building: Double-Standard or Drop in the Bucket? (http://amti.csis.org/vietnams-island-building/) ”

Plus, AMTI tracks the latest developments in maritime Asia, including island reclamation progress, via our interactive “Island Tracker (http://amti.csis.org/island-tracker/) .”

In addition, CSIS’s interactive micro-website ChinaPower (http://chinapower.csis.org/military/) takes a close look at China’s military apparatus.


** In that Number
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** 152
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The number of convictions that Egyptian courts handed down to protesters in a single day this weekend. Source: WaPo (https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/egypt-sentences-152-protesters-to-jail-in-spree-of-verdicts/2016/05/15/184f78e6-1ad2-11e6-9c81-4be1c14fb8c8_story.html) .


** Critical Quote
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** “The utility of the arms ban on Vietnam has outlived its usefulness.”
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—CSIS’s Murray Hiebert and Phuong Nguyen on the possibility of lifting the US lethal arms ban against Vietnam. Source: CSIS’s cogitASIA blog (http://cogitasia.com/fully-lifting-the-u-s-lethal-arms-ban-will-add-momentum-to-u-s-vietnam-relations/) .


** One to Watch
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(Photo Credit: Twitter.)
Carlo Muñoz (@NatSecCarlo (https://twitter.com/NatSecCarlo) ) is a military correspondent with the Washington Times. Carlo was previously a national security columnist at the Daily Dot and a foreign correspondent with Stars and Stripes. For defense news, Carlo is one to watch.


** Optics
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(Photo Credit: @brett_mcgurk (https://twitter.com/brett_mcgurk) )
Bretty McGurk, special presidential envoy for the global coalition to counter Daesh, met with His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan on Sunday to discuss the situation in Iraq and Syria.


** Highly Recommended
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ICYMI: “How Israel is turning part of the Negev Desert into a cyber-city (https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/how-israel-is-turning-part-of-the-negev-desert-into-a-cyber-city/2016/05/14) ,” by the Washington Post’s Ellen Nakashima and William Booth.


** CSIS Tomorrow
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Join CSIS’s Strategic Technologies Program at 2:00 p.m. for “Managing Risk for the Internet of Things (http://csis.org/event/managing-risk-internet-things) .”

Join CSIS’s Simon Chair in Political Economy at 3:30 p.m. for “G7 Ise-Shima Summit: What's at Stake? (http://csis.org/event/g7-ise-shima-summit-whats-stake) ,” featuring Kanji Yamanouchi, Japan’s minister for Economic Affairs, and Kurt Tong, principal deputy assistant secretary for the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs at the State Department.


** This Town Tomorrow
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Join CNAS tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. for “US Policy in Southeast Asia: A Conversation with Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes (http://www.cnas.org/event/conversation-with-ben-rhodes#.VzoNh_krJhF) .”

And tomorrow at 8:30 a.m. watch CFR’s “Crisis in Global Governance: A Conversation With Richard N. Haass and the Council of Councils (http://www.cfr.org/global-governance/crisis-global-governance-conversation-richard-n-haass-council-councils/p37852) ,” featuring Richard Haass, Amos Yadlin, and other global think tank leaders.


** CSIS on Demand
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The Department of Defense just released the 2016 China Military Power Report (http://www.defense.gov/Portals/1/Documents/pubs/2016%20China%20Military%20Power%20Report.pdf) . Last week CSIS hosted a discussion between Joseph S. Nye, David Shambaugh, and Bonnie Glaser on the rise of Chinese power (http://csis.org/event/chinapower-launch) , its strengths and weaknesses, with a particular focus on China’s soft power.


** Sounds
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The latest episode of Marc Lynch’s POMEPS Podcast (http://pomeps.org/2016/05/16/pomeps-conversation-67-steffen-hertog/) features a discussion with LSE professor Steffen Hertog on the economic situation in the Gulf Cooperation Council, specifically Saudi Arabia’s recent reforms.


** I Like It Like That
Eye-catching things in CSIS's orbit
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Twitter will soon stop counting photos and links in their 140-character limit for tweets, via Bloomberg (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-05-16/twitter-to-stop-counting-photos-and-links-in-140-character-limit) .


** Smiles
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“Jazz Fest”

People say the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival isn’t what it once was. It’s too corporate, too crowded, the weather is too unpredictable…

Sure. Ok. Maybe…

And maybe not. Every year there are certain days at Jazz Fest and certain performances where it all comes together for a quintessential, timeless experience. Bright sunshine, cool breezes, friendly vibes, and music that can only come from one place.

This year, on day one of Jazz Fest it happened when Anders Osborne took the stage.

Anders Osborne (if you don’t know who he is you really should watch this clip) is one of the Crescent City’s current greats. His new record “Spacedust and Ocean Views” is the very best record I’ve heard in a long time. Just watch and notice all of the ingredients in this superb video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-48GCTEZP3w&feature=youtu.be) that underscore that Jazz Fest is still what it was—if you look closely you will see and hear all of them.


** 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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