The Evening: Biden Foreign Policy, New Covid Relief, Promise of the Real and More

February 4, 2021

Biden Shifts Foreign Policy Priorities

President Biden today at the State Department announced an end to U.S. support for offensive operations in Yemen and a freeze on troop redeployments from Germany, reversing two Trump administration policies, as the Washington Post reports.

Senate Democrats Set for First Step on Road to New Covid-19 Relief

Democrats in the Senate were poised on Thursday to take a first step toward the ultimate passage of President Biden’s $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief proposal, in a marathon “vote-a-rama” session aimed at overriding Republican opposition, as Reuters reports.

Myanmar Blocks Facebook as Resistance Grows to Coup

Myanmar’s new military government blocked access to Facebook as resistance to Monday’s coup surged amid calls for civil disobedience to protest the ousting of the elected government and its leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, as AP reports.

Executive Education

CSIS is now accepting applications for the Spring 2021 Belt and Road Executive Course. Drawing insights from leading experts and the CSIS Reconnecting Asia Project, this course reveals how China's $1 trillion foreign policy effort is impacting commercial and strategic realities on the ground.

Global Forecast 2021

In the latest Global Forecast essay, CSIS's Seth G. Jones lays out a new strategy to combat China, Russia, and Iran's use of irregular warfare based on the U.S. core principles of democracy, freedom of religion, and free markets.

Coronavirus Crisis Update

The Coronavirus Crisis Update podcast brings you the latest updates and analysis from CSIS experts and the leaders directing the global response. Past guests include NIAID Director Dr. Anthony Fauci, White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain, IHME Director Dr. Chris Murray, Covid-19 Advisory Group members Dr. Luciana Borio and Dr. Celine Gounder, chef Jose Andres, and more. Listen on Apple Podcasts & Spotify.

Video Shorts

Check out CSIS’s new series of video shorts: “Data Unpacked,” Testify,” “What's Happening,” “Preview,” and “High Resolution.” And don’t forget to subscribe to the CSIS YouTube Channel!

In That Number

2 Million

North Korea is expected to receive nearly two million doses of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine by the middle of this year as part of an estimated 336 million doses that Covax expects to distribute around the world in the first half of 2021.

Source: NYT

Critical Quote

“You don’t want parties with people that you haven’t had much contact with. You just don’t know if they’re infected, so, as difficult as that is, at least this time around, just lay low and cool it.”

— Dr. Anthony Fauci on Super Bowl gatherings

iDeas Lab

With the U.S. military edge over prospective opponents eroding, the United States now needs every advantage it can get. Inflicting surprise on our adversaries is one tool for regaining strategic advantage, explains CSIS's Mark Cancian.

The Andreas C. Dracopoulos iDeas Lab at CSIS enhances our research with the latest in cutting-edge web technologies, design, and multimedia.

Optics

(Photo credit: Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images.) A man receives a vaccination in his truck at a drive-through vaccination center run by the New Hampshire National Guard.

Recommended Reading

“Questions about Facial Recognition,” by CSIS’s James Andrew Lewis and William Crumpler.

This Town Tomorrow

Tomorrow, at 10:00 a.m., the CSIS Americas Program hosts a virtual conversation with Martha Bárcena, outgoing Ambassador of Mexico to the United States, on the bilateral relationship in the Biden administration.

And, at 9:30 a.m., Carnegie Endowment experts discuss nuclear policy in the Biden administration with former Under Secretary of Defense Michèle Flournoy.

Later, at 12:00 p.m., the Center for Global Development holds a webinar discussion on how developing countries can pursue improvements in healthcare.

Video

Journalists Alastair Gale, David Nakamura, and Motoko Rich discussed the Biden administrations approach to U.S.-South Korea-Japan relations in the latest episode of the Korea Chair's Capital Cable. Watch the full video here.

Podcasts

On the most recent episode of 35 West, CSIS's Moises Rendon sits down with Ambassador Francisco Santos Calderón to discuss the humanitarian impact of the Venezuelan migrant crisis playing out in neighboring Colombia.

Listen on Spotify, Google Play, & Apple Podcasts

Smiles

Lukas Nelson and his band Promise of the Real has kept me smiling during the pandemic with great performances from home. His “Soundcheck Songs” series is really fun—in each episode Lukas & POTR take on one of their favorite tracks and interpret it. In this case it’s Bob Dylan’s “Meet Me In The Morning.” Love this.