That Was the Week in Ukraine: Mafias, Kidnappings, Murders, a Strangelove Summit, Military Options, and the Maidan Murderers Exposed

Screen shot from some of the extraordinary video posted on the BBC Ukraine Crisis timeline.

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• Kiev's Russian-Trained Killersby Jamie Dettmer March 30, 2014 12:00 AM EDT
  The slaughter of 53 protesters in the Maidan on February 20 changed history. Now, exclusive photographs show what really happened.
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• GALLERY
  Photos of Kiev's Killers
  March 30, 2014 12:00 AM EDT
  Exclusive photographs show the Russian-trained secret police in Ukraine preparing for battle before the massacre of protesters in Kiev on February 20 – a day that changed history.
  
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• Obama Must Show He’ll Use Military Means to Deter Russia in Ukraine
  by Leslie H. Gelb March 30, 2014 12:00 AM EDT
  To deter Putin and other aggressors, diplomatic and economic slaps are not enough; the U.S. needs a military dimension.
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• Ukraine’s Interior Minister, Arsen Avakov, Begs Rebels to Help Defend Ukraine
  by James Kirchick March 28, 2014 09:46 AM EDT
  Speaking exclusively to the Daily Beast, Ukraine’s interior minister says revolutionaries must accept the internal battle is over and help to face down Russia.
  
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• Obama Betrays Georgia
  by Will Cathcart March 27, 2014 01:00 PM EDT
  The president said Tbilisi isn’t “currently on a path” to membership in the military alliance after telling the vulnerable country for months to do it.
  
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• Who Killed One of the Most Notorious Right Sector Leaders in Ukraine?
  by Oleg Shynkarenko March 27, 2014 11:50 AM EDT
  Brutal, defiant “Bilyi” was a dream come true for Kremlin propagandists, a nightmare for Ukrainian moderates. Now, just as he predicted on YouTube, he’s dead.
  
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• Ukraine Revolutionaries Bitter about Crimea Loss and Kiev Incompetence
  by Jamie Dettmer March 27, 2014 05:45 AM EDT
  In the aftermath of Crimea’s loss, bitter Ukrainians who supported the revolution are turning their anger on their government.
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• Hitting Russians Where It Hurts
  by James Kirchick March 26, 2014 03:25 PM EDT
  Estonia’s president says go after the Kremlin’s banks like you’d go after a terrorist’s, question the legitimacy of Russian passports, and never doubt Putin’s taste for territory.
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• The Strangelove Summit
  by Christopher Dickey, Jamie Dettmer March 25, 2014 01:30 PM EDT
  More than 50 world leaders assembled in The Hague this week to address nuclear security—and grapple with new threats posed by nuclear Russia.
  
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• Kidnapped in Crimea
  by Anna Nemtsova March 24, 2014 05:45 AM EDT
  They thought they could reason with the people of the breakaway region, but after mock executions and threats of mutilation, they felt lucky to get out alive.
  
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• The Mafia Ruling Ukraine’s Mobs
  by Jamie Dettmer March 23, 2014 12:00 AM EDT
  Organized crime helped Putin grab Crimea, and may open the way for him to take more of Russian-speaking Ukraine.

Saudi Arabia's Comic Book Fatwa

Saudi Arabia’s Comic Book Fatwa, 28 March 2014
The president should confront Saudi leaders over the ludicrous fatwa against ‘The 99,’ a ground-breaking Muslim superhero comic.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/03/28/president-obama-s-got-99-problems-with-saudi-arabia.html


Audio on PRI's The World: A Saudi fatwa shuns the first comic book to feature Muslim superheroes
http://www.pri.org/stories/2014-03-28/saudi-fatwa-shuns-first-comic-book-feature-muslim-superheroes

Dr. Strangelove then, the Nuclear Security Summit now ...

Anna Nemtsova: Ukrainian Women Kidnapped by Russians in Crimea Tell Their Tale

The latest from Anna Nemtsova:

WORLD NEWS

 

03.24.14

Ukrainian Women Kidnapped by Russians in Crimea Tell Their Tale

Two young women talk about their abduction and brutalization at the hands of Russia’s thugs in what used to be Ukraine

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/03/24/ukrainian-women-kidnapped-by-russians-in-crimea-tell-their-tale.html

MH370: They're Looking, Truly, In the Middle of Nowhere

Our map accompanying Lennox Samuels' Daily Beast story pretty much tells the tale. You have to zoom out by 13 clicks before you spot the first hint of land ....

Why Putin Did It

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/03/18/why-putin-did-it.html

The Daily Beast: Why Putin Did It, 18 March 2014
By Christopher Dickey
The Russian president’s speech about annexing Crimea is really about winning back the pride lost when the Berlin Wall fell.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/03/18/why-putin-did-it.html

Europe: 1000 Years of Changing Borders

Keep an eye on Crimea ... and Ukraine, and Poland, and Italy ...

Anna Nemtsova on the changing, sinister scene in Kiev's Maidan

Eli Lake, Anna Nemtsova and Jamie Dettmer report on the Spetsnaz Role in Ukraine

An announcement, and my latest article: US Spy Satellites Ride Russian Rockets

I am pleased to report that as of Monday my title changes to Foreign Editor of The Daily Beast. I will continue to divide my time between Paris and New York, with frequent travel to the Middle East and elsewhere around the world.

My latest story:

The Daily Beast: U.S. Spy Satellites Riding Russian Rockets into Space, 15 March 2014
The space-launch business shows just how difficult it is to make sense of sanctions aimed at Putin’s actions in Ukraine.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/03/14/u-s-spy-satellites-riding-russian-rockets-into-space.html

My most recent appearance on NPR:

Freelance In Africa: A Young Reporter’s Story
We go to Congo with a young journalist who lived and reported there and look at how we get our foreign news today.
http://onpoint.wbur.org/2014/03/12/congo-stringer-foreign-affairs-media

Will Russian troops leave Crimea? ... Well, no.

Ukraine: What Does NATO Do Next? ... and... Why Do We Keep Getting Putin Wrong?

The Daily Beast: Crimea Is Gone—What Does NATO Do Next?, 2 March 2014
On the centenary of World War I, Europe's suddenly facing a crisis of Russian aggression. Why NATO must make a show of strength and reassure its Eastern members.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/03/02/crimea-is-gone-what-does-nato-do-next.html

The Daily Beast: Ex- CIA Chief: Why We Keep Getting Putin Wrong, 2 March 2014

with Eli Lake and Noah Schactman
Blame a myopic mindset—and an intelligence corps focused on terrorism, not Moscow.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/03/02/ex-cia-chief-why-we-get-putin-wrong.html

Did You See the Ukraine Invasion Coming? Neither Did the US Intel Community

The Daily Beast: U.S. Spies Said No Russian Invasion of Ukraine—Putin Disagreed, 28 February 2014
A day after U.S. intelligence said there would be no Russian invasion of Ukraine, Putin’s troops started coming over the border.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/02/28/u-s-spies-said-no-invasion-putin-disagreed.html

The Daily Beast: Putin’s Shadow Shock Troops Roil Ukraine, 28 February 2014
Vladimir Putin draws on his background as a master spy, testing and teasing the new regime in Kiev and its backers in Washington.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/02/28/putin-s-shadow-shock-troops-roil-ukraine.html

My 26 February 2014 appearance on Al Jazeera America: Putin probably will not respect Ukrainian territory and the West will be hard pressed to meet the challenge

http://america.aljazeera.com/watch/shows/consider-this/2014/2/will-putin-respectukrainesterritorialintegrity.html

Newsmakers: Christopher Dickey and Mark Coatney - 3/4/2014 - New York University - SCPS

Newsmakers: Christopher Dickey and Mark Coatney - 3/4/2014 - New York University - SCPS

Video: Talking Obama, Putin and Ukraine on Al Jazeera America

Ukraine: Why Putin is Fracking Furious; Why Yulia is No Angel; and commentary on France 24

The Daily Beast: Why Putin is Fracking Furious, 26 February 2014

Hint: It's not about the environment

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/02/26/why-putin-hates-fracking.html

The Daily Beast: Yulia Tymoshenko: She's No Angel, 23 February 2104

Her record is allegedly as shady as any politician's in Ukraine, and that's saying something. But still she brings her people hope.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/02/23/yulia-tymoshenko-she-s-no-angel.html

France 24: The World This Week, 21 February 2014

Talking about Ukraine with Celestine Bohlen of The New York Times; Sylvie Kauffmann of Le Monde; and Anthony Bellanger of Les Inrockuptibles

http://www.france24.com/en/20142102-world-this-week-part-one/

On BBC World Service Weekend This Morning ...

On BBC talkin empathy & Syria; anti-Europe Swiss; madness & poetry; gay Sochi http://t.co/1oTbHNyj4r @romankrznaric @AlOraibi @thedailybeast
— csdickey (@csdickey) February 9, 2014

Israel's Next War Zone ... and more

USGS outline of Levant Basin Province

Are These Gas Fields Israel’s Next Warzone?
Rumors of war could become the reality as Israel vies with the other nations of the Levant for control of the huge riches beneath the sea.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/02/06/are-these-gas-fields-israel-s-next-warzone.html

Also:

The Daily Beast's @csdickey on how American evangelists have contributed to homophobia in Russia: http://t.co/fD6Jl9IDlG
— PRI's The World (@pritheworld) February 6, 2014

For foreign correspondents, a great fellowship at the Council on Foreign Relations in NYC

One of the most productive years of my career was spent as a Murrow Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York City. I would strongly encourage any American correspondent, or any foreign correspondent with a work visa in the United States, to apply before the March 1 deadline. (If I could, I'd do it again myself.)


CFR 2014–2015 Edward R. Murrow Press Fellowship


Application Deadline: March 1, 2014

Program

Launched in 1949 with support from the Carnegie Corporation, the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) Edward R. Murrow Press Fellowship seeks to promote the quality of responsible and discerning journalism that exemplified the work of Edward R. Murrow. In 1965, the program was renamed in his honor and is supported by the CBS Foundation and Ford Foundation. One CFR resident fellowship is awarded each year to a distinguished foreign correspondent or editor.

The Edward R. Murrow Press Fellow spends nine months full-time in residence at CFR’s headquarters in New York. The program enables the fellow to engage in sustained analysis and writing, expand his or her intellectual and professional horizons, and extensively participate in CFR’s active program of meetings and events. The fellow will be part of the David Rockefeller Studies Program, CFR’s think tank, alongside the program’s full-time, adjunct, and visiting fellows, whose expertise extends across the broad range of significant foreign policy issues facing the United States and the international community.

Eligibility

The program is only open to applicants who have distinguished credentials in the field of journalism and who have covered international news as a working journalist for print, broadcast, or online media widely available in the United States. Applicants are limited to those individuals who are authorized to work in the United States and who will continue to be authorized for the duration of the fellowship. CFR does not sponsor for visas.

Fellowship Award

The duration of the fellowship is nine months, preferably beginning in September. The program awards a stipend of $65,000 as well as a modest travel grant. The fellow is considered an independent contractor rather than an employee of CFR, and is not eligible for employment benefits, including health insurance.

How to Apply

Interested candidates who meet the program’s eligibility requirements can Apply Online between January 1 and March 1 on an annual basis.

Contact Us

For more information, please visit www.cfr.org/fellowships, or contact fellowships@cfr.org or 212.434.9740.

Controversial Social Issues: America's Anti-Gay Ambassadors of Hate; The Dutch Debate Their Death Wish

America’s Ambassadors of Hate
The global battle for LGBT rights will not start, or end, with rainbow flags in Sochi. American activists are spreading anti-gay fear and anger around the world.

By Christopher Dickey
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/02/04/america-s-ambassadors-of-hate.html

Photos: Manif Pour Tous (or is it contre tous?) in Paris on Sunday
http://christopherdickey.blogspot.fr/2014/02/manif-pour-tous-or-is-it-contre-tous-in.html

The Dutch Debate Their Death Wish
A controversial new clinic that helps the chronically depressed end their lives has The Netherlands wrestling with state-mandated euthanasia.

By Nadette De Visser, with a contribution by Christopher Dickey
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/02/03/the-dutch-debate-doctor-assisted-suicide-for-depression.html-- 

Twitter and Instagram @csdickey