Between The Lines - Katrina vanden Heuvel: NATO's Eastward March Remains Major Obstacle to Reaching Peaceful Settlement of Ukraine Crisis (Week Ending March 21, 2014)

Award-winning Investigative Journalist Robert Parry (1949-2018)

Award-winning investigative journalist and founder/editor of ConsortiumNews.com, Robert Parry has passed away. His ground-breaking work uncovering Reagan-era dirty wars in Central America and many other illegal and immoral policies conducted by successive administrations and U.S. intelligence agencies, stands as an inspiration to all in journalists working in the public interest.

Robert had been a regular guest on our Between The Lines and Counterpoint radio shows -- and many other progressive outlets across the U.S. over four decades.

His penetrating analysis of U.S. foreign policy and international conflicts will be sorely missed, and not easily replaced. His son Nat Parry writes a tribute to his father: Robert Parry’s Legacy and the Future of Consortiumnews.

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The Resistance Starts Now!

Between The Lines' coverage and resource compilation of the Resistance Movement

"The man who predicted Trump presidential win now says Trump impeachment could happen," AM Joy with Joy Reid, MSNBC, Jan. 21, 2018
"Sketchy Kazakh money finds its way into Trump dealings," The Rachel Maddow Show, MSNBC, Jan. 15, 2018
"Red flags seen in many Trump real estate deals," The Rachel Maddow Show, MSNBC, Jan. 15, 2018
"Secret Money: How Trump Made Millions Selling Condos To Unknown Buyers," BuzzFeed, Jan. 12, 2018
"The Scandals of Donald Trump: Presidential Edition," The Atlantic, May 15, 2017
"Here's what we know so far about Team Trump's ties to Russian interests," Washington Post's ongoing compilation
"What Comey Was Investigating, Explained," The Moscow Project, Center for American Progress

"Donald Trump's Financial Ties to Russian Oligarchs and Mobsters Detailed In Explosive New Documentary from the Netherlands," Dutch TV documentary, Alternet.org, May 12, 2017
Ongoing compilation of Trump's creeping authoritarianism," MotherJones.com
Full resource list ...

SPECIAL REPORT: "The Resistance - Women's March 2018 - Hartford, Connecticut" Jan. 20, 2018

Selected speeches from the Women's March in Hartford, Connecticut 2018, recorded and produced by Scott Harris

SPECIAL REPORT: "No Fracking Waste in CT!" Jan. 14, 2018

Jen Siskind Jennifer Siskind, local coordinator for Food and Water Watch, describes the campaign to stop fracking waste in Connecticut, which so far has led to fracking waste bans in 34 towns around the state. Interviewed by Richard Hill on Mic Check, WPKN Radio, Bridgeport, CT

SPECIAL REPORT: "Resistance Round Table: The Unraveling Continues..." Jan. 13, 2018

Lindsay Kanaly The panel discusses Trump's long history of racism and the Republican voter suppression juggernaut confronting Democrats leading up to the 2018 elections. Special guest: Lindsay Kanaly, a lead organizer of the Women's Marches planned for Jan. 20, 2018. Panel: Scott Harris, Ruthanne Baumgartner and Richard Hill on Resistance Roundtable, WPKN Radio, Bridgeport, CT.

SPECIAL REPORT: "Capitalism to the ash heap?" Richard Wolff, Jan. 2, 2018

Richard Wolff, Economics professor Richard Wolff declares U.S. capitalism to be beyond repair and suggests the need for a radical alternative. Interviewed by Richard Hill

SPECIAL REPORT: Maryn McKenna, author of "Big Chicken", Dec. 7, 2017

Maryn McKenna, investigative journalist and author of Big Chicken, talks about the widespread use and dangers of antibiotics in commercial poultry, beef and fruit production. Interview by Bill Duesing, Richard Hill and Guy Beardsly on WPKN's Organic Farm Stand.

SPECIAL REPORT: Nina Turner's address, Working Families Party Awards Banquet, Dec. 14, 2017

Nina Turner, president of Our Revolution, talks about the fight ahead for progressives as she receives the Working Families Organization Award for Exceptional Leadership Towards Advancing Progress. The event was held in Meriden, CT. Produced by Richard Hill.

SPECIAL REPORT: Mic Check, Dec. 12, 2017

Working Families Party of CT talks strategy and issues for 2018.
Lindsay Farrell, executive director of the Working Families Party of Connecticut, discusses the state's electoral landscape and lays out the issues and strategies that could lead to progressive victories in 2018. Interviewed by Richard Hill.

SPECIAL REPORT: Resistance Roundtable, Dec. 9, 2017

Disturbing developments in the Trump/Republican Agenda
Focus on the tax bill, destruction of our public lands, North Korea and Trump's private CIA. Panel: Scott Harris, Ruthanne Baumgartner and Richard Hill. Special guest: Jo Macallero of Rise and Resist.

SPECIAL REPORT: On Tyranny - one year later, Nov. 28, 2017

Professor Timothy Snyder, author of the highly acclaimed resistance manual On Tyranny, discusses his book and offers a fresh assessment of the state of our beleaguered republic. Timothy Snyder, history professor at Yale, is introduced by Stanley Heller, administrator of Promoting Enduring Peace, a Connecticut-based organization that sponsored this event at the United Church Parish House in New Haven on Nov. 28. A brief interview with Snyder conducted by WPKN radio producer, Richard Hill, follows his talk.

SPECIAL REPORT: Mic Check, Nov. 12, 2017

Lynne Ide, director of program and policy with the Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut, talks about the current state of health care coverage in Connecticut. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Resistance Roundtable, Nov. 11, 2017

Focus on the Republican tax plan, the just-released autopsy on the Democratic Party, and Internet censorship by Google, Facebook and Youtube. Including an interview with Hilary Grant, a lead organizer with Action Together Connecticut, who discusses the local results of the recent election, with hosts Richard Hill, Scott Harris and Ruth Baumgartner WPKN producers

SPECIAL REPORT: Rainy Day Radio, Nov. 7, 2017

Two leaders from Redneck Revolt, an anti-racist, anti-capitalist movement, talk about their work organizing with white working class people in Suffolk County, New York. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Rainy Day Radio, Nov. 7, 2017

Bruce Gagnon, coordinator for the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space, describes the extent of -- and motives underlying -- the vast US network of military bases around the globe. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Resisting U.S. JeJu Island military base in South Korea, Oct. 24, 2017

Joyakol, South Korean peace activist and singer, discusses the crisis on the Korean peninsula and focuses on the resistance to the U.S. huge military base being constructed on Jeju Island. The event was sponsored by the Greater New Haven Peace Council and this audio was recorded by Richard Hill, WPKN producer.
Joyakol discusses Americans' biggest misconceptions about the conflict between North and South Korea and the U.S., Interview by Richard Hill, WPKN producer.

SPECIAL REPORT: John Allen, Out in New Haven

John Allen, founding director of the New Haven Pride Center, Connecticut, talks about his new LGBTQ television show, Out in New Haven, which presents a range of political and cultural issues to the community. Interviewed by Richard Hill on WPKN's Rainy Day Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2018.

2017 Gandhi Peace Awards

Promoting Enduring Peace presented its Gandhi Peace Award jointly to renowned consumer advocate Ralph Nader and BDS founder Omar Barghouti on April 23, 2017.

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THANK YOU TO EVERYONE...

who helped make our 25th anniversary with Jeremy Scahill a success!

For those who missed the event, or were there and really wanted to fully absorb its import, here it is in video

Jeremy Scahill keynote speech, part 1 from PROUDEYEMEDIA on Vimeo.

Jeremy Scahill keynote speech, part 2 from PROUDEYEMEDIA on Vimeo.

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Between The Lines Presentation at the Left Forum 2016

"How Do We Build A Mass Movement to Reverse Runaway Inequality?" with Les Leopold, author of "Runaway Inequality: An Activist's Guide to Economic Justice,"May 22, 2016, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, The City University of New York, 860 11th Ave. (Between 58th and 59th), New York City. Between The Lines' Scott Harris and Richard Hill moderated this workshop. Listen to the audio/slideshows and more from this workshop.

Listen to audio of the plenary sessions from the weekend.

JEREMY SCAHILL: Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker "Dirty Wars"

Listen to the full interview (30:33) with Jeremy Scahill, an award-winning investigative journalist with the Nation Magazine, correspondent for Democracy Now! and author of the bestselling book, "Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army," about America's outsourcing of its military. In an exclusive interview with Counterpoint's Scott Harris on Sept. 16, 2013, Scahill talks about his latest book, "Dirty Wars, The World is a Battlefield," also made into a documentary film under the same title, and was nominated Dec. 5, 2013 for an Academy Award in the Best Documentary Feature category.

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NATO's Eastward March Remains Major Obstacle to Reaching Peaceful Settlement of Ukraine Crisis

Posted March 12, 2014

Interview with Katrina vanden Heuvel, editor and publisher of the Nation magazine, conducted by Scott Harris

Tensions remain high in Ukraine after the Crimean Parliament voted to approve a declaration of independence that will take effect if Crimea’s residents approve a vote to secede from Ukraine and join the Russian Federation in a referendum scheduled for March 16. With thousands of Russian troops without insignia continuing to occupy Crimea, leaders of Ukraine's interim government have called for the formation of a new National Guard and requested military aid from the U.S and Britain under the post-Cold War Budapest Memorandum.

Both Russian President Vladimir Putin and ousted Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych consider the interim government, installed in Kiev after the three-month protest occupation there to be illegitimate. They assert that top posts in the new government, including deputy prime minister, deputy secretary of National Security and secretary of the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council, are now in the hands of far right fascist and anti-Semitic groups Svoboda and Right Sector. Putin says Russia has responded to the threat these extremist groups pose to the Russian-speaking population in Crimea and Eastern Ukraine.

Washington and the European Union’s threat of economic sanctions against Russia, as well as NATO reconnaissance flights over Poland, Romania, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia have increased already heightened tensions over the situation in Ukraine. Between The Line’s Scott Harris spoke with Katrina vanden Heuvel, editor and publisher of the Nation magazine, who discusses the triggers that set off the current East-West crisis in Ukraine and options to reach a negotiated settlement.

KATRINA VANDEN HEUVEL: Since the Bill Clinton administration in the 1990s, the U.S.-led West has been on a steady march towards post-Soviet Russia. Beginning with what Russian scholar George Kennan called the most fateful era of the post-Cold War period – the expansion of NATO all the way to the Russian border — NATO now includes three formerly Soviet countries, eight or nine Warsaw Pact countries. This may not resonate with your listeners, but it is a touchstone in Russia for a failed post-Soviet, post-Cold War world, and also for broken promises.

Former Secretary of State James Baker in the George H. W. Bush administration promised then-Russian leader Mikhail Gorbachev that when the Berlin Wall collapsed and Germany was re-unified, NATO would not expand — NATO being a Cold War alliance, a military alliance — would not extend one inch eastward.

It has expanded, and I think that has to be a backdrop, as we witness events in Ukraine. I also think we need to go back to last November, when the European Union proposed to Ukraine that it join the European Association Agreement.

First of all, it offered $160 million a year for five years and furthermore, there were security arrangements in this European Association Agreement, which the U.S.-Western media has barely reported. These agreements would have led Ukraine to move fairly quickly into NATO. But what’s more important as we sit here today, is it didn’t need to be an either-or situation. The Russian government offered a tri-partite agreement. As former German Prime Minister Gerhardt Schroeder writes today in the German media, “It did not need to be either-or. It was a failure of the EU and the West to make it such that the both - and alternative would have been more reasonable — because Ukraine needs partnership with both sides."

Ukraine is a bankrupt country. It has been looted by its oligarchs, its political elite over these years. And, let me finish here, because if the IMF, the International Monetary Fund, sits in Kiev tonight, our reporter out of Kiev says that “as details emerge about the IMF loan, there is a sequester plan by the Ukrainian Finance Ministry, which includes a variety of deep reductions in social expenditures — such as cutting pensions by 50 percent." This will be perhaps more of a trigger for conflict in the next month, if this goes through, than what is happening with Crimea.

BETWEEN THE LINES: Recognizing that Russia has legitimate security interests in the future of Ukraine, and also recognizing the fact that the United States and the European Union offered Ukraine a yes-or-no answer on whether they would be affiliated with Russia or the EU, who is responsible for this serious strategic error which brought us to the current crisis? Obviously, there could have been a compromise to have Ukraine be a part of both worlds, both the Russian and European world, economically. But that didn’t happen. Why? That’s the key question here, isn’t it?

KATRINA VANDEN HEUVEL: The key question, and we sit here today, and we look back at history, 25, 30 years ago. We look back at just these recent months. This tragedy, because it is ripping Ukraine apart and it is leading perhaps to a very dangerous escalation with NATO planes in Poland and Romania, with Russian troops in Crimea, how we come down from this? Maybe one answer to your question, because the de-escalation will require security guarantees for Russia, will require in many ways maintaining the territorial integrity of Ukraine. It will need new and free elections if that’s possible, which will be inclusive, because Ukraine is so divided, that if you don’t have the inclusion of eastern and southern parts of Ukraine which are principally Russian-speaking, how will the government in Ukraine be representative?

There needs to be a pledge of security guarantee to Russia reaffirming the pledge that NATO will not extend into Ukraine, and finally, if Ukraine is going to be economically prosperous, or even economically sustainable, Ukraine needs to be part of both the EU and the Russian Customs Union. So there needs to be a dialing back if it’s at all possible, to what would have been more common sense, as I said “less bluster, more common sense is needed.” Why force Ukraine, as the EU did in November, to decide between Russia and the EU?

BETWEEN THE LINES: Well, Katrina, just a final question here. There are those in Washington, and Moscow, as you mentioned earlier, who are part of the war-party, people who want to see tensions escalate. Some of these people, neo-cons like John McCain and former Vice President Dick Cheney, who seem hell-bent on reviving the Cold War, and I’m wondering from where you sit, who benefits from a revival of the Cold War, and severe strains and tensions with Russia at this moment?

KATRINA VANDEN HEUVEL: Well, the American people certainly don’t benefit, nor does this country — which needs to rebuild itself, at home. The military-industrial complex, as you’ve probably followed, there’s been a drumbeat against the small, barely any, defense cuts that have been made due to sequestration in these last months. The oil and gas companies benefit, because there will be a march to expand the U.S.’s natural gas program, and fracking. The neo-cons and the outdated, retro, dinosaur-like think tanks will benefit as they howl at the moon to continue a Cold War that benefits no one. And the issues that should preoccupy us – extreme poverty in the world, inequality, climate change, weapons of mass destruction – none of those critical issues which we should tend to in non-military ways will benefit. So I think that we should do all that we can to ensure that this doesn’t move into a robust full-throated Cold War and find a way forward. Without it, no one will benefit.

For more information on The Nation, visit TheNation.com.