The Evening CSIS March 30 2015

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.

Grinding On
US officials continue to negotiate with their Iranian counterparts in Switzerland, while disputing a Sunday New York Times report that indicated Iran wouldn’t send its uranium abroad to be disposed of. The Times’ Michael Gordon and David Sanger have been leading the reporting from Lausanne.

The Associated Press provides an excellent summary of the “gaps” that remain between the US and Iran.

Meanwhile, Reuters reports that Iran will continue to seek a nuclear deal but will not seek to normalize relations with the US.

Dive Deeper: CSIS’s Anthony Cordesman issued a newreport today, Judging a P5+1 Nuclear Agreement with Iran: The Key Criteria. In this report, Cordesman outlines four key criteria and tests on which he says a nuclear agreement should be judged.

The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg with a smart article on “What to Worry About in an Iran Nuclear Deal.”

And, CFR has an interesting interview with top national security law expert John Bellinger III, “Navigating the Iran Sanctions Thicket.”

Slow Going
Chinese leaders focused on China’s slowing economic growth Sunday at China’s annual Davos-style economic forum in Boao on the Chinese island of Hainan. TheFinancial Times reports.

Dive Deeper: CSIS’s Matthew Goodman and David Parker write about “Navigating China’s Economic Rapids” in the CSIS Global Economics Monthly, published today.

And, tomorrow, CSIS will host the launch of a two-year study on China’s economic decisionmaking, designed to help inform US economic strategy toward a rapidly changing China. The event will feature a discussion panel and a keynote presentation by former secretary of state Madeleine Albright, now Albright Stonebridge Group chair.

Also, the New Yorker’s Evan Osnos writes in the magazine’s April 6 issue about how Xi Jinping “took control of China."

In that Number
2.8 million
The number of barrels of oil Iran produces per day—down significantly from its peak in 1974.
Source : Bloomberg.

Critical Question
A daily shortened sampling of our signature "Asked & Answered" series.

Asked: Now that Nigerians have voted, will political leaders listen?

Answered: CSIS Africa Program director Jennifer Cooke. “On Saturday, Nigerians voted in the hardest fought and most closely contested national elections in the country’s history. With initial results trickling in, the race remains too close to call. Reports are circulating, as yet unconfirmed, of interference in the multiple layers of collation and counting. Election Day itself proved remarkably peaceful. The real stars of Nigeria’s electoral process so far have been the Nigerian voters, who despite a number of challenges and delays, remained patient, calm, and determined to have a voice in the leadership and governance of their country. As the country awaits the announcement of the final tally, the big question is whether the Nigerian government and political elite will in turn respect the will of the voters and the rule of law. If they do, the 2015 elections will be an important step forward in Nigeria’s political history and democratic consolidation. If they fail, these elections will mark an unfortunate fall backwards that will deepen political divides and undermine national efforts to tackle the country’s big challenges and capitalize on its many opportunities.”

Read the full analysis here.

One to Watch

New York Times national security correspondent David Sanger ( @SangerNYT) is the reporter to watch for coverage of the US-Iran talks. He is also the author ofConfront and Conceal: Obama’s Secret Wars and Surprising Use of American Power (2012) and a regular panelist for the CSIS-Schieffer Series.

Optics
Extraordinary photos of the funeral of Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s founding prime minister.

Bonus Reading: This superb Wall Street Journal “Saturday Essay” by the Asia Society’s Orville Schell, “Lee Kuan Yew, the Man Who Remade Asia.”

And, ICYMI, CSIS Trustee Henry Kissinger’s farewell to Lee published in the Washington Post last week.

Highly Recommended
Yesterday marked the 42nd anniversary of the withdrawal of US troops from Vietnam. In the March 30 issue of the New Yorker, journalist Seymour Hersh returns to the scene of a Pulitzer Prize–winning story he broke in 1969–1970 about the My Lai massacre.

CSIS Tomorrow
What’s in store at CSIS HQ tomorrow.

CSIS will release the results of a two-year study on China’s economic decisionmaking, designed to help inform US economic strategy toward a rapidly changing China. Former secretary of state Madeleine Albright will provide the keynote following a panel discussion starting at 9:30 a.m. Click here for more.

CSIS will host the launch of a new World Bank report, Do African Children Have an Equal Chance? Join us at 2:30 p.m. for a discussion on the changing opportunities for children in Africa.

This Town Tomorrow
So many important things in this town—so little time. Of note:

The Brookings Institution will host His Excellency Stefan Löfven, prime minister of Sweden, for a discussion on “Globalization in a Time of Turmoil.” Click here to watch online at 9:00 a.m.

CSIS on Demand
With today’s dissolution of parliament, the United Kingdom starts its election campaigns. Watch Dr. Liam Fox, MP, on the future of U.S.-UK relations and how a new government may define the UK’s presence on the world stage.

Sounds
Interesting report on NPR’s Morning Edition today about US oil storage against the backdrop of the US becoming an oil producer that rivals Saudi Arabia.

I Like It Like That
Eye catching things in CSIS’s orbit

If you haven’t yet picked up on the fact that Facebook is for old people, this new study by ComScore underscores it.

According to the study, Snapchat is big with millennials with 71 percent of its users in the US between 18 and 34 years old. Facebook has the lowest user percentage in that age range at 38 percent and also has the highest portion of users aged 65 and over among social media platforms.

Smiles
Somehow I can’t quite picture the ancient Egyptians debating the merits of “Tastes great or less filling.” But, with an archeological discovery in Tel Aviv, the Israeli Antiquities Authority has declared that 5,000 years ago “beer was the Egyptian national drink.”

Feedback

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