The Evening: No Sign of Russian Pullback, Covid Next Phase, Set Them Free, and More

February 16, 2022

U.S. and NATO say they have seen no sign of a Russian pullback near Ukraine

Western leaders said Wednesday that they were still looking for proof that President Vladimir V. Putin was open to a diplomatic resolution and was pulling back troops from Ukraine’s borders, as the NYT reports.

U.S. and Russian Aircraft Flew Perilously Close

U.S. and Russian military aircraft flew dangerously close to each other in three separate weekend incidents over the Mediterranean Sea, including one in which the planes passed within 5 feet, Pentagon officials said Wednesday, as the WSJ reports.

Covid Next Phase

The U.S. has made “tremendous progress” in its ability to protect against Covid-19 and plans are under way for the next phase of the pandemic, White House coronavirus response coordinator Jeff Zients said Wednesday. “We’re moving toward a time when Covid isn’t a crisis but is something we can protect against and treat,” Zients said, as the Washington Post reports.

Executive Education

Drawing on insights from leading experts and the CSIS Reconnecting Asia Project, CSIS's “Belt, Road, and Beyond” executive education course explains what China's Belt and Road Initiative is, what it is not, and how it is impacting commercial and strategic realities on the ground.

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

$100 BBL

As oil nears $100 a barrel, Saudi officials say they will not pump more oil than they agreed to last year as part of a deal between the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and Russia.

Source: WSJ

Critical Quote

“We have heard the signs from Moscow about readiness to continue diplomatic efforts. But so far, we have not seen any de-escalation on the ground. On the contrary, it appears that Russia continues its military buildup.”

— NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg

iDeas Lab

The latest episode of High Resolution features CSIS’s Seth G. Jones and Joseph S. Bermudez Jr. discussing Russia’s military buildup, including evidence from satellite imagery of Russian bases and Crimean ports.

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: Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP/Getty Images.) NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg (R) and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin talk at the start of the round table during the meeting of NATO defense ministers on the Russia-West tensions at the NATO Headquarters in Brussels on February 16, 2022.

Recommended Reading

“NATO and the Ukraine: Reshaping NATO to Meet the Russian and Chinese Challenge” by CSIS's Anthony H. Cordesman and Grace Hwang.

This Town Tomorrow

At 10:00 a.m., join the CSIS Africa Program for a panel discussion on the intersection of natural resources, corruption, good governance, and climate in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Then, at 3:00 p.m., the Wilson Center holds a discussion on Canada's takeaways from Afghanistan and the implications of this for future U.S.-Canadian military collaboration.

And, at 4:00 p.m., join the Atlantic Council for a conversation on U.S.-Ecuadorian relations and post-pandemic recovery with Dr. Alfredo Borrero Vega, Vice President of Ecuador.

Video

The CSIS Missile Defense Project today hosted the U.S. Army Futures Command for a discussion on Project Convergence, the Army’s “campaign of learning” and combined efforts to provide joint all-domain command and control. Watch the event here.

Podcasts

The Biden administration has presented the outlines of an "Indo-Pacific economic framework" to increase economic engagement in the region. To succeed, this framework must provide tangible benefits, including but not limited to advancing binding rules, hard commitments, and broad principles, for regional and American partners alike. This, and more, discussed in the latest installment of The Trade Guys.

Listen on Spotify & Apple Podcasts.

Smiles

1984 was a tough year in music for my friends and me. The Police broke up! We couldn’t understand why the best band in the world, at the height of their considerable powers, hung up their spikes.

For us, the band wasn’t simply about front man Sting. Stewart Copeland was the best drummer in the world. Guitarist Andy Summers’s guitar riffs were some of the most memorable hooks in recorded music (think “Message in a Bottle,” “Roxanne,” and “Every Breath You Take” to name a few.)

The band’s breakup was no small thing.

A year later in ’85, Sting launched a solo career and roared back into musical space with a jazz fusion record called “The Dream of the Blue Turtles.”

Jazz fusion??? As teenagers, our musical education hadn’t yet included such a genre. What happened to New Wave, Punk, and just plain Rock and Roll??? We were confused.

But then an interesting thing happened. We learned that Sting’s backing band was comprised of young jazz legends: Branford Marsalis on sax, Kenny Kirkland on keys, Darryl Jones (who subsequently replaced Bill Wyman in the Rolling Stones) on bass, and Omar Hakim on drums.

The results of Sting’s fusion were joyful and groovy. No, it wasn’t “Reggatta De Blanc,” but Sting’s new sound was instantly catchy and even a bit transcendent. We rushed to get tickets to see Sting and his new band perform at Merriweather Post Pavilion on September 21, 1985. It was an unforgettable show.

Yesterday, I heard “If You Love Somebody Set Them Free,” while shopping in a grocery store of all places. It sounded better than ever.