The Evening CSIS September 2 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 and if you want to view this in your browser, click here.

The Votes are In
Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) said today she is in favor of President Obama’s Iran nuclear agreement, making her the 34th Democrat in favor. With her vote pledged, President Obama now has the votes needed to assure the deal will pass through congress as the New York Times' Jonathan Weisman and Michael Gordon report.

Meanwhile, as Rachel Weiner of the Washington Post reports, Maryland’s other Senator, Benjamin Cardin (D-MD) continues to decide on whether to support the deal — a decision that has pitted him against his rabbi in Baltimore and against many of his constituents.

Dive Deeper: CSIS’s Jon Alterman today published a new commentary Beyond the Iran Deal.

Make Way for the King
As Politico’s Phil Gordon reports, "when King Salman of Saudi Arabia visits the White House this Friday—his first visit to the United States since acceding to the throne—Washington’s political world will be focused with great anticipation on what he says about the nuclear deal with Iran."

Dive Deeper: CSIS’s Anthony Cordesman has published a new commentary The President, King Salman, and the Gulf between Them.

In that Number
52 million
The number of Internet users that India added in the first six months of 2015.
Source: Times of India.

Critical Question
Asked: Now that the votes are in on the Iran deal, what are the next steps?

Answered: Jon Alterman, CSIS senior vice president, Zbigniew Brzezinski Chair in Global Security and Geostrategy, and director of the Middle East Program:

One has to do with the implementation of the agreement itself, working through the verification requirements and the almost-certain disputes over what full compliance really means. Arms control is a slow and painstaking business, and this agreement will receive more than the usual scrutiny.

A second set of issues concerns Iran’s regional activities, which the agreement does not address. Heightened expectations that the Iranians will boost their support for Middle Eastern allies who seek to upset the status quo will make everyone more sensitive to Iranian actions. Promoting more positive Iranian regional behavior will be difficult, and curbing Iranian malfeasance is no easier than it has been.

There are also a large set of questions having to do with emerging global commercial ties with Iran. Congress will have hard choices to make in the coming months about what kinds of commercial activity with Iran it wants to discourage for what purpose and how effectively it can do it. Many businesses—European, Asian, and even American—see great promise in a reintegrated Iran. They have varying attitudes toward the seriousness of Iran’s regional activities and their relationship to the commercial ties they wish to create.

One to Watch

The Washington Post’s Chico Harlan ( @chicoharlan), who, ICYMI writes essential, thoughtful articles like Saturday’s on China's decelerating demand for commodities .

Optics
Reuter’s photographer Bernadett Szabo provides a glimpse into Europe’s increasingly chaotic migrant crisis.

Highly Recommended
A new Foreign Policy feature, “Welcome to the Most Japanese City in China,” by Michael Myer published today is an interesting read.

CSIS Tomorrow
Join us tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. as we host Iraqi ambassador Lukman Faily for a discussion on Iraq’s future. Ambassador Faily will explore Iraq’s domestic political scene, as well as the regional security picture and further opportunities for US-Iraq cooperation.

This Town Tomorrow
Former British defence secretary Dr. Liam Fox will join Heritage tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. to discuss the consequences of the Iran deal, including its implications for regional and global security. For more information and to watch online, click here.

CSIS on Demand

What happens next with the Iran deal? To get smart on the issues at stake, watch Dr. Colin Kahl and other policymakers speak on the key issues and controversies of the deal.

Sounds
As the EU migrant crisis intensifies, CSIS's Heather Conley joined NPR's Marketplace to discuss the challenges facing the region.

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

A new study by the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies estimates there are seven-and-a-half times more trees on Earth than previously believed..

Smiles
Encore. Everyone wants more of New Orleans’ Trombone Shorty. That’s because he makes us smile with his incredible music. This performance filmed at Tipitiana’s in New Orleans captures the intensity of being there. What a smile!

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