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The Evening: Syrian Bombing, Middle East Peace, Jingo and More
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** Good Evening,
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It's Tuesday, February 20th.


** Syrian Forces Bombard Damascus Suburb
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Syrian regime forces backed by Russian warplanes pounded a rebel-held suburb of Damascus, intensifying months of attacks, as the
Wall Street Journal’s Raja Abdulrahim reports (https://www.wsj.com/articles/almost-100-killed-in-bombardment-of-hard-hit-suburb-of-syrian-capital-1519124180?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=50f10fd564-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_02_20&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-50f10fd564-145367789) .

Seven hospitals have also been bombed since Monday morning, as the Guardian’s Kareem Shaheen reports (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/feb/20/its-not-a-war-its-a-massacre-scores-killed-in-syrian-enclave-eastern-ghouta?CMP=share_btn_tw&utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=50f10fd564-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_02_20&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-50f10fd564-145367789) .

Dive Deeper: See CSIS’s original documentary film, The New Barbarianism (https://www.csis.org/features/new-barbarianism/?si1&utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=50f10fd564-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_02_20&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-50f10fd564-145367789 ) , which explores how healthcare and humanitarian workers are increasingly in the crosshairs as hospitals and aid centers have become part of the battlefield in today’s wars.


** Middle East Peace
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At the U.N. today, U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley said the United States is “ready to talk” Middle East peace with the Palestinians in remarks directed at Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during a meeting of the U.N. Security Council, as Reuters’ Michelle Nichols reports (https://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-palestinians-un/u-s-says-ready-to-talk-mideast-peace-abbas-calls-for-conference-idUSKCN1G429I?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=50f10fd564-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_02_20&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-50f10fd564-145367789) .

Dive Deeper: “Israel, the Palestinians, and the Administration's Peace Plan (http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/israel-the-palestinians-and-the-administrations-peace-plan?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=50f10fd564-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_02_20&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-50f10fd564-145367789) ,” a congressional testimony by the Washington Institute’s Ghaith al-Omari.


** Venezuela’s Digital Currency
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Venezuela is becoming the first country to launch its own version of bitcoin, a move it hopes will provide a much-needed boost to its credit-stricken economy, as the AP reports (http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-venezuela-petro-currency-20180220-story.html?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=50f10fd564-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_02_20&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-50f10fd564-145367789) .

And, as the Washington Post reports (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2018/02/20/venezuelas-maduro-just-invited-trump-to-hang-out-over-twitter/?utm_term=.1d6f4bde8960&utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=50f10fd564-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_02_20&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-50f10fd564-145367789) , Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro reached out to President Trump over Twitter this morning, calling for dialogue in either Caracas or Washington.

Dive Deeper: “Venezuela: The Downward Spiral Continues (https://www.csis.org/analysis/venezuela-downward-spiral-continues/?block4&utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=50f10fd564-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_02_20&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-50f10fd564-145367789) ,” by CSIS’s Sarah Ladislaw and Andrew Stanley.

“A Venezuelan Refugee Crisis (https://www.cfr.org/report/venezuelan-refugee-crisis?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=50f10fd564-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_02_20&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-50f10fd564-145367789) ,” by CFR’s Shannon O’Neil.


** Executive M.A. from CSIS/Syracuse U
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CSIS & Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs offer Executive Master's in International Relations. Information here (https://www.maxwell.syr.edu/dc/emir/?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=50f10fd564-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_02_20&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-50f10fd564-145367789) .


** In That Number
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** $8 trillion
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Paying off the debt on U.S. wars could cost $8 trillion by 2050.
Source: Brown University’s Watson Institute of International and Public Affairs (http://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/figures/2017/us-budgetary-costs-post-911-wars-through-fy2018-56-trillion?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=50f10fd564-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_02_20&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-50f10fd564-145367789) .


** Critical Quote
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** “I will not shut up.”
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— Nikki Haley, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. (https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/20/politics/haley-un-speech-abbas/index.html?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=50f10fd564-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_02_20&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-50f10fd564-145367789)


** iDeas Lab
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Die Welt
The New Barbarianism, a documentary from the CSIS Global Health Policy Center, examines the harrowing attacks against healthcare and humanitarian workers worldwide. You can watch all six chapters of the film here (https://www.csis.org/features/new-barbarianism?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=50f10fd564-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_02_20&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-50f10fd564-145367789) .

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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Die Welt (Photo Credit: Drew Angerer/Getty Images). Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas today at the U.N.


** Recommended Reading
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“It Could Get Harder to Track US War Spending (http://www.defenseone.com/politics/2018/02/it-could-get-harder-track-us-war-spending/146094/?oref=d-channeltop&utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=50f10fd564-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_02_20&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-50f10fd564-145367789) ,” by Defense One’s Caroline Houck.


** This Town Tomorrow
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Join the CSIS Technology Policy Program at 8:30 a.m. (https://www.csis.org/events/economic-impact-cybercrime?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=50f10fd564-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_02_20&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-50f10fd564-145367789) for "The Economic Impact of Cybercrime," a report release and discussion on the state of cybercrime in 2018.

At 10:00 a.m. (https://www.csis.org/events/chinas-rapid-drive-new-generation-cars-trends-opportunities-and-risks?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=50f10fd564-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_02_20&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-50f10fd564-145367789) , attend CSIS’s China Innovation Policy Series for "China’s Rapid Drive into New-Generation Cars," a conversation on new Chinese policies in its auto sector.

At 9:30 a.m. (https://www.wilsoncenter.org/event/urban-risk-or-resilience-improving-informal-settlements-urban-africa?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=50f10fd564-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_02_20&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-50f10fd564-145367789) , join the Wilson Center for a discussion on improving informal settlements in urban Africa.


** Video
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Surprise has been an element of war since the beginning of time. But as warfare has evolved, so too has the nature of surprise. So, what might surprise look like today? As new threats emerge and old ones evolve, it’s not an academic question. Watch the new, original CSIS video, “Surprise: The Art of War That Never Went Away.” (https://www.csis.org/analysis/coping-surprise-great-power-conflicts?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=50f10fd564-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_02_20&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-50f10fd564-145367789)


** Sounds
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In the latest episode of Curated Conversations, Dr. Alexander Thurston discusses his new book on the history of Boko Haram, one of the world’s deadliest jihadist groups.

Listen here on Apple Podcasts (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/csis-events/id935747073?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=50f10fd564-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_02_20&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-50f10fd564-145367789) and SoundCloud (https://soundcloud.com/csis-57169780/boko-haram-the-history-of-an?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=50f10fd564-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_02_20&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-50f10fd564-145367789) .


** Smiles
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Music is full of emotion. It evokes memories, feelings, thoughts. It is indeed the universal language. When Santana first became part of the public consciousness in 1969 with their performance at Woodstock, they added a new dialect to the universal language.

Santana makes me think of so many things. On a day like today in DC, when it is in the 70s and sunny, it makes me think of California’s golden, sunny shores. Last weekend in DC when it was cold and sleeting, I walked into the deli of my childhood with my sons out in Silver Spring and the guys in the kitchen were blasting Santana’s “Jingo,” and it felt like something else entirely—an explosion of muscle memory, hard work, and craft at a frenetic pace.

The infectious music of Carlos Santana never gets old because it’s timeless. It was a smile being reminded of that (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTcXtvKgvE0&feature=youtu.be&utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=50f10fd564-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_02_20&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-50f10fd564-145367789) .
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=50f10fd564-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_02_20&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-50f10fd564-145367789)

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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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