Video: Christopher Dickey's Commencement Speech at Hamilton College

A Look Inside Bob Dylan's Da Vinci Code

This Bob Dylan story in The Daily Beast is fascinating. Plagiarism? Inspiration? It could start a whole new generation looking up Virgil, Ovid, Twain, Hemingway and Dos Passos. Bravo!

A Farewell to One of the Great Foreign Correspondents

Remembering Ron Moreau: Goodbye To A War Reporting Legend
Veteran Newsweek reporter and Daily Beast writer Ron Moreau was one of the last great foreign correspondents of a great generation. http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/05/15/remembering-ron-moreau-goodbye-to-a-war-reporting-legend.html

Hunting Al-Qaeda: America's Epic Yemen Fail, and more ...

Hunting Al Qaeda: America's Epic Yemen Fail
From Pakistan to Nigeria, terrorists are taunting the governments that are trying to hunt them down. The record in Yemen, scene of a weeks-long offensive, helps explain why.
www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/05/15/hunting-al-qaeda-america-s-epic-yemen-fail.html-- 

Video: Should We Negotiate With Boko Haram?
With the Nigerian terrorists proving difficult to locate, The Daily Beast's Christopher Dickey analyzes whether some sort of bargain is the only way to recover the abducted girls.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/videos/2014/05/13/should-we-negotiate-with-boko-haram.html

What To Do About Boko Haram and its Schoolgirl Hostages

The Boko Haram Bidding War, 10 May 2014
While the world mobilizes to do everything possible to #BringBackOurGirls, let's recognize that the ransom price will be very high indeed. (Article and video appearance on CNN)

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/05/10/the-boko-haram-bidding-war.html

#BringBackOurGirls: A Call to Action, 6 May 2014
Video of a Google Hangout conference call explaining the situation on the ground in Nigeria, and the worldwide campaign to effect change.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Pc2LQOGmCg

Chlorine Used as a Weapon in Iraq: 2006 - 2007

From Securing the City (2009):

Chlorine gas ... was the first of what have since become known as weapons of mass destruction. The Germans used it with devastating effect at the World War I battle of Ypres in 1915. When released from a container by opening the nozzle or setting off an explosive charge, it billows out as a heavy greenish fog that smells, not surprisingly, like chlorine bleach. When it mixes with the tears in your eyes, or the blood and soft tissue in your lungs and throat, it turns to searing hydrochloric acid. Outside, it settles into low-lying terrain—trenches during World War I. And in a closed space—a building or a subway—the effect is both gruesome and lethal. ...
[It showed up in] Iraq in late 2006, as the insurgents started adding canisters of the gas to their suicide bombs. By early 2007, these crude devices began attracting some attention in Washington. One exploded at a military base in Ramadi in January. It killed sixteen people, but the U.S. claimed the casualties came from the blast, not the gas. Then in February the insurgents set off a truck with two big chlorine gas tanks in it at the town of Taji north of Baghdad, killing six people and sickening scores more. A day later, they blew up canisters with a car bomb along the Baghdad airport road, killing two and sickening twenty-five. All of these attacks were in relatively open spaces. If they’d taken place in, say, the tunnels of New York, their impact would have been much worse.

Assad's Secret WMD; Poster Girls for Jihad; Saudi Arabia's Comic Book Fatwa, and more

Western Intelligence Suspects Assad Has a Secret Chemical Stockpile
Syria's 'declared' arsenal of chemical weapons is almost gone—but what was left undeclared? And what about his biological weapons? Those have not been acknowledged or inspected at all.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/05/01/western-intelligence-suspects-assad-has-a-secret-chemical-stockpile.html

• Poster Girls for Jihad
  by Christopher Dickey April 21, 2014 05:45 AM EDT
  Two young teenagers who disappeared from Vienna 10 days ago may have joined the Syrian jihad—or they may have been groomed and trafficked.
  
• 
  
• VIDEO
  The State of Saudi Intel
  April 17, 2014 03:23 PM EDT
  After Prince Bandar bin Sultan was replaced as Saudi Arabia's intelligence chief, Daily Beast foreign editor Christopher Dickey joined CNN to analyze developments in the kingdom.
  
• 
  
• Boko Haram's Sick Hatred of Girls
  by Christopher Dickey April 16, 2014 05:40 PM EDT
  The abduction of 200 female students from northern Nigeria was not the first attack on girls' education by the al Qaeda-linked group—and it won't be the last.
  
• 
  
• Saudi Arabia's Comic Book Fatwa
  by Christopher Dickey March 28, 2014 07:58 AM EDT
  The president should confront Saudi leaders over the ludicrous fatwa against 'The 99,' a ground-breaking Muslim superhero comic.
  

Some of the many international stories posted on The Daily Beast over the last month:

Refugees to Sicily in 'Biblical Exodus'

by Barbie Latza Nadeau April 24, 2014 04:35 PM EDT

Old dying towns are seeing new life thanks to thousands of refugees seeking asylum from Syria....

Why Does the Press Help Thugs?

by Jamie Dettmer April 28, 2014 02:00 PM EDT

Russia's gunmen in eastern Ukraine are staging a violent circus for the international press, and reporters are playing right along.

Russia's Great Rock 'n Roll Swindle

by Anna Nemtsova April 27, 2014 05:45 AM EDT

As the Kremlin tries to turn back the clock to the glories of the Soviet Union, Perestroika has become a bad word and its heroes are cast as villains.

Venezuela's Killer Elite

by Marcel Ventura April 22, 2014 01:00 PM EDT

Violent demonstrations return to opposition strongholds as families struggle to find justice for their loved ones killed by the military in earlier protests.

Shooting Down North Korea Missiles

by Angela Erika Kubo, Jake Adelstein April 10, 2014 03:59 PM EDT

If, as feared, Pyongyang fires ballistic missiles in Japan's direction this month, Tokyo and the United States intend to destroy them while they're in outer space.

Inside China's 'Mistress Villages'

by Brendon Hong April 14, 2014 12:25 PM EDT

Rich and powerful Chinese men collect trophy women—not wives but mistresses—two or three at a time. A look at just where and how they live.

I Predicted My Own Death

by Margot Kiser April 06, 2014 06:45 AM EDT

A leading Shabaab recruiter predicted he'd be killed by "unknown assailants," and so he was

The Forgotten Genocidal War in Darfur Revealed in New Satellite Photos

by Akshaya Kumar , Jacinth Planer March 24, 2014 09:05 PM EDT

Satellite images show the savage Janjaweed militias who helped carry out the genocide in Sudan a decade ago are back at work, and with a vengeance.

For Sale: The Scariest Island Ever

by Barbie Latza Nadeau April 18, 2014 01:00 PM EDT

One Venetian island is the stuff of campfire ghost stories—piles of dead bodies burned, hauntings by plague victims, and a home for the insane....

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.

• 
  
• 
  
• 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.
• 
  
• 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.
  
• 
  
• 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.
• 
  
• 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.
  
• 
  
• 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.
  
• 
  
• 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.
  
• 
  
• 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.
• 
  

• 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.
• 
  
• 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.
  
• 
  
• 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.
  
• 
  
• 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