The Evening CSIS: Big TPP Deal, Afghan Plan, Bye, Bye Love & More

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 click here and if you want to view this in your browser, click here.

Big Deal
The US, Japan, and 10 other Pacific Rim nations have struck the largest trade pact in two decades and the largest regional deal in history, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the New York Times reports.

Dive Deeper: CSIS’s Matthew Goodman and Scott Miller authored a new Critical Questions (CSIS’s signature series of asked & answered short papers): “The Trans-Pacific Partnership Negotiations Conclude.”

CFR has a good “Backgrounder” that was published last June, “The Future of U.S. Trade Policy,” which is a helpful resource.

Afghan Plan
Greg Jaffe and Missy Ryan of the Washington Post today report that President Obama is considering a plan to keep as many as 5,000 US troops in Afghanistan beyond 2016.

The Post also reports that the airstrike that killed 22 people at a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan, on Saturday, was requested by Afghan forces, not US troops, according to the top US general in Afghanistan, General Campbell, who spoke on the subject today.

Dive Deeper: CSIS’s Anthony Cordesman today authored a new commentary: “General Campbell, the SASC, and the Last Chance for Afghanistan.”

Plus, don’t miss former NPR reporter Sarah Chayes on “Why Afghanistan Is Going to Fall to the Taliban Again.”

Quiet Revolution
The New York Times reports today that California is “cruising toward its 2020 goal for increasing renewable energy and is setting far more ambitious targets for the future.”

Dive Deeper: CSIS’s John Larsen, Sarah O. Ladislaw, Michelle Melton, and Whitney Ketchum had a new report published today: Assessing the Final Clean Power Plan .

In that Number
10 percent
Less than 10 percent of the world’s population will be living in extreme poverty by the end of 2015.
Source: World Bank.

Critical Quote
“At best, it was a display of Russian military incompetence; at worst, evidence of a dangerous desire to highlight American political impotence.”
Zbigniew Brzezinski, on Russia’s decision to launch air strikes in Syria.

One to Watch

Tracey Samuelson (@tdsamuelson) is a reporter for Marketplace, one of the best shows for those wanting their quick fix of business and economic news. Look out for Tracey to explain the back and forth or the Trans-Pacific Partnership as it winds its way to completion. Image credit: Marketplace.

Optics

The Project Apollo Archive released thousands of photos from NASA’s Apollo program this weekend. These images are breathtaking and true national treasures.

Highly Recommended
Perhaps the most important piece of reporting I have seen in quite some time aired last night in the form of 60 Minutes’ “The Hidden Holocaust” by CBS’s Lara Logan and her producer Alan Goldberg. It is the story of an extraordinary Catholic priest, Father Patrick Desbois, who is determined to find forgotten victims of the Holocaust whose bodies lie in unmarked mass graves in the former USSR. If you missed it live, you cansee it here, plus the 60 Minutes’ “Overtime” online piece, which draws parallels between the Nazis and ISIS.

CSIS Today
The CSIS Sumitro Chair for Southeast Asia Studies hosted Antonio T. Carpio, senior associate justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines, with introductory remarks by Jose L. Cuisia, ambassador of the Republic of the Philippines to the United States. The discussion focused on China’s nine-dash line as the root cause of the South China Sea disputes and showed how it encroaches on the maritime zones of other coastal states.

This Town Tomorrow
The war in Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea resulted in a crisis in relations between Russia and the countries of the transatlantic community, calling in question the future of the European Union’s policy toward its eastern neighbors. The Wilson Center will host an event at 9:00 a.m. on the possible trajectories for the EU relationship with Russia and the surrounding region.

CSIS on Demand
As negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership conclude, watch as Michael Froman, US trade representative, keynotes the Asian Architecture Conference @ CSIS and previews some of the most important issues surrounding trade and the major powers in Asia.

Sounds
Derek Mitchell, US ambassador to Myanmar, speaks exclusively to the CSIS CogitAsia Podcast on the country’s upcoming elections and internal strife.

I Like It Like That
Eye-catching things in CSIS's orbit

Powerful message from New York Times executive editor Dean Baquet on the future of the Times’ journalism.

Smiles
Great week of Smiles last week with Keith Richards. But at the beginning of the week I ran an obscure clip of one of my favorite bands in the history of rock, The Cars. So many of you wrote me about The Cars and the seminal role the band played in their lives—that’s what innovative music does, it gets into your bones and stays there like muscle memory.

I also love this next clip because it’s brilliant television that was produced by the BBC. “Rock Goes to College” was a series that ran on the Beeb from 1978-1981 which showcased up-and-coming rock bands performing in small, intimate venues on college campuses.

The Cars performed on January 13, 1979 at the University of Sussex. This is my favorite Cars song ever, “Bye, Bye Love.”

Feedback

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