The Evening: Milley Apology, Market Slide, Madman Across the Water and More

June 11, 2020

Milley Apologizes

Gen. Mark Milley, the nation's top military officer, expressed his regret today for walking with President Donald Trump across Lafayette Square for a photo op after authorities forcefully cleared the area of protesters, calling the appearance a "mistake," as Politico reports.

Second Stimulus

The stock market slid sharply Thursday, with the Dow Jones industrial average shedding 1,861.82 points, or 6.9 percent, as suddenly renewed fears about the coronavirus’s impact on the economy startled Wall Street and the White House, as the Washington Post reports.

And, as the WSJ reports , the Trump administration is weighing getting behind a second round of stimulus payments for Americans as part of an economic-relief package Congress is likely to consider next month, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said today.

Arizona Cases Spike

A jump in cases in Arizona, one of the earliest states to reopen, is fueling concerns of an increase in community spread. Arizona is among the emerging hot spots in the United States, with 28,296 confirmed cases and 1,070 known deaths as of Tuesday, as the NYT reports.

CSIS Executive Education

Enrollment is now open for CSIS and Syracuse University’s joint Executive Master’s in International Relations. This first-of-its-kind degree allows working professionals in the nation’s capital to benefit from the academic strengths of the #1 graduate school in public affairs and the policy know-how of #1 think tank in the U.S. Learn more and apply today.

Video Shorts

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

In That Number

162

Between March 2015 and April 2020, the Arab coalition has reported over 162 intercepts of Houthi ballistic missiles, the largest use of ballistic missile defense of any conflict in history.

Source: CSIS

Critical Quote

“I should not have been there.”

— Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

iDeas Lab

A CSIS survey of strategic elites in Southeast Asia found that 94.5 percent of respondents included China as one of three countries with the most political power and influence in the region today. The United States was chosen by 92 percent of respondents.

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: Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images.) President Donald Trump walks to Marine One today.

Recommended Reading

“Two Years since Singapore: Did Kim Outplay Trump?" by CSIS's Victor Cha and Sue Mi Terry.

Online Events

Tomorrow, at 10:00 a.m., CSIS will webcast a conversation with Christian Brose on his new book, The Kill Chain: Defending America in the Future of High-Tech Warfare , which argues that the U.S. military is unprepared for future conflicts with its most pressing strategic rivals.

Later, at 11:30 a.m., CSIS will host the latest installment of the Schieffer Series, which will examine the social instability the Covid-19 pandemic has generated.

And, at 2:00 p.m., the Cato Institute will host a discussion on the current state and future shape of nuclear diplomacy with North Korea, featuring CSIS’s Victor Cha.

Video

In the fourth installment of the CSIS Africa Debate Series, experts discussed the trade-offs between public health measures and livelihoods in sub-Saharan Africa. Watch the full event here.

Podcasts

Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette joins Sarah Ladislaw, director of the CSIS Energy Security and Climate Change Program, for a discussion about how the U.S. energy sector has responded to the Covid-19 pandemic and the changing nature of energy security.

Listen on Spotify & Apple Podcasts.

Smiles

This is one of my favorite covers by a young artist of a classic tune: Brandi Carlile covering Elton John’s “ Madman Across The Water .”