Subject: The Evening: Election Vulnerabilities, Iraq Pledges, Hollywood Nights and More
From: "Andrew Schwartz" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 14 Feb 2018 22:10:51 +0000
List-Id: 833ec271d60c6750d9c3baaacmc list <833ec271d60c6750d9c3baaac.212205.list-id.mcsv.net>

The Evening: Election Vulnerabilities, Iraq Pledges, Hollywood Nights and More
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** Good Evening,
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It's Wednesday, February 14th.

** Election Vulnerabilities
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State and local election systems remain vulnerable to outside attacks ahead of the upcoming midterm elections, House Democrats warned in a new report, as ABC News’ Benjamin Siegel posted today (http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/state-local-election-infrastructure-vulnerable-attacks-ahead-midterm/story?id=53080509&utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=4b0a4525a6-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_02_14&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-4b0a4525a6-145367789) .

Also, from Federal Computer Week’s Lauren Williams: “Could a cyber national guard have a role in safeguarding elections? (https://fcw.com/articles/2018/02/13/national-guard-cyber-vote.aspx?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=4b0a4525a6-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_02_14&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-4b0a4525a6-145367789) ”

Meanwhile, on the heels of yesterday’s testimony by Trump administration intelligence officials regarding the ongoing Russian threat to our electoral system, today Newsmax reports (https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/congress-intel-china-threat/2018/02/14/id/843339/?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=4b0a4525a6-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_02_14&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-4b0a4525a6-145367789) that intelligence leaders warned Congress that Chinese companies linked to the government in Beijing are a major security threat to the United States by stealing and buying sensitive American technology.

Dive Deeper: See a new report published today: Countering Adversary Threats to Democratic Institutions (https://www.csis.org/analysis/countering-adversary-threats-democratic-institutions/?block2&utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=4b0a4525a6-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_02_14&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-4b0a4525a6-145367789) , by CSIS’s Suzanne Spaulding.

** Middle East Plan Fairly Well Advanced
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President Trump’s plan for peace in the Middle East is “fairly well advanced,” Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said today, offering a rare insight into progress on the administration’s proposal for solving the decades-old conflict, as the
Wall Street Journal’s Felicia Schwartz reports (https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-to-increase-aid-to-jordan-despite-opposition-to-jerusalem-move-1518602434?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=4b0a4525a6-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_02_14&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-4b0a4525a6-145367789) .

Dive Deeper: “After the Weekend's Iran-Israel Attacks, a Burden on Trump to Confront Russia and Engage Europe (http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/after-the-weekends-iran-israel-attacks-a-burden-on-trump-to-confront-russia?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=4b0a4525a6-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_02_14&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-4b0a4525a6-145367789) ,” by the Washington Institute’s Dennis Ross.

** Iraqi Pledges Short
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Iraq received pledges of $30 billion, mostly in credit facilities and investment, on Wednesday from allies but this fell short of the $88 billion Baghdad says it needs to recover from three years of war, as Reuters reports (https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-iraq-reconstruction-ku/allies-promise-iraq-30-billion-falling-short-of-baghdads-appeal-idUSKCN1FY0TX?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=4b0a4525a6-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_02_14&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-4b0a4525a6-145367789) .

** 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=4b0a4525a6-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_02_14&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-4b0a4525a6-145367789) .

** In That Number
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** 50%
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The U.S. State Department is promoting far fewer people—50 percent less—into some of the first levels of senior Foreign Service positions.
Source: McClatchy (https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/article199909959.html?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=4b0a4525a6-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_02_14&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-4b0a4525a6-145367789) .

** Critical Quote
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** “Russian influence does not simply occur in and around a national election; it is a continuous and holistic series of operations that are designed to break the internal coherence of the enemy system.”
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—CSIS’s Heather Conley (https://csis-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/congressional_testimony/ts180212_Conley_Testimony_SASC_Cybersecurity.pdf?Bj9k82KxEWiJFzXhrGyP7j2Q6D7rGssS&utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=4b0a4525a6-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_02_14&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-4b0a4525a6-145367789) in testimony before the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Cybersecurity.

** iDeas Lab
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Die Welt
From CSIS’s Kremlin Playbook: “Russia has cultivated an opaque network of patronage across the region that it uses to influence and direct decision-making. This web resembles a network-flow model, which we describe as an ‘unvirtuous circle’ of Russian influence.”

You can read the full report here (https://csis-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/publication/1601017_Conley_KremlinPlaybook_Web.pdf?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=4b0a4525a6-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_02_14&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-4b0a4525a6-145367789) .

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: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images.) Gold medalist Shaun White!

** Recommended Reading
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“How do Iran’s 'corrupt networks' operate? (https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2018/02/iran-corrupt-networks-aghazadehs-rouhani-irgc-divestment.html?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=4b0a4525a6-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_02_14&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-4b0a4525a6-145367789) ” by Bijan Khajehpour for Al-Monitor.

** This Town Tomorrow
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Join the United States Institute of Peace at 10:00 a.m. for “American Peacemaking Experience in the Balkans: Lessons for Ukraine (https://www.usip.org/events/american-peacemaking-experience-balkans-lessons-ukraine?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=4b0a4525a6-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_02_14&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-4b0a4525a6-145367789) .”

And, at 4:00 p.m., join the Wilson Center for a conversation on the Kissinger-Le Duc Tho Negotiations (https://www.wilsoncenter.org/event/vietnam-the-kissinger-le-duc-tho-negotiations-august-1969-december-1973?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=4b0a4525a6-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_02_14&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-4b0a4525a6-145367789) regarding Vietnam from 1969 to 1973.

** Video
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Today, CSIS and the United States Naval Institute hosted a conversation on the U.S. Navy's surface warfare challenges on culture, readiness, maintenance, and standard. Watch the discussion here (https://www.csis.org/events/surface-warfare-challenge-retrospective-culture-readiness-maintenance-and-standards?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=4b0a4525a6-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_02_14&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-4b0a4525a6-145367789) .

** Sounds
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In the latest edition of Russian Roulette, Maxim Suchkov, editor of Al-Monitor’s Russia-Middle East coverage, talks about the conflict in Syria, Russia’s diplomacy towards finding a resolution, and more.

Listen here on Apple Podcasts (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/russian-roulette/id1112258664?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=4b0a4525a6-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_02_14&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-4b0a4525a6-145367789) or SoundCloud (https://soundcloud.com/csis-57169780/of-russia-in-the-middle-east?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=4b0a4525a6-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_02_14&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-4b0a4525a6-145367789) .

** Smiles
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One of our most musically knowledgeable (and policy knowledgeable) readers pointed out yesterday that even Bob Seger’s “B-Sides” are great songs. Very true. But this is why (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_D4eUWBAE_A&utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=4b0a4525a6-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_02_14&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-4b0a4525a6-145367789) I want to be Bob Seger circa 1978 for a day.
I invite you to email me at [email-masked] (mailto:[email-masked]) and follow me on Twitter @handrewschwartz (https://www.twitter.com/handrewschwartz?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=4b0a4525a6-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_02_14&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-4b0a4525a6-145367789)

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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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