Michael Weiss
Newlines Magazine
New York, NY, United States
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Past articles by Michael:
Is Putin Sick – Or Are We Meant to Think He Is?
An oligarch close to the Kremlin was recorded on a tape saying the president is ‘very ill with blood cancer.’ Is this true, idle speculation or disinformation designed to make an erratic and paranoid dictator vulnerable? → Read More
In Kyiv, War is Both Remote and Ever-Present
As the West girds for an ‘imminent’ Russian offensive, Ukrainians are calm and resolved → Read More
The Russian Agent Who Escaped
Mayorov would this time travel under a cover name and plant flash drives with compromising material on Belova so that she could be turned over to the French authorities. He’d asked his recruiter, Galiakberov, “Aren't you afraid that I’ll just stay there?” Galiakberov replied that if he did, he’d “come back in a zinc coffin.” → Read More
Lukashenko’s Crazy-Stupid Hamas Headfake
Adding to the fact that the message was sent after the mid-air bomb theatrics unfolded, the sought-for cease fire referenced in the email had already taken effect on Friday, two days before this communique was sent out. → Read More
Did Russian Spies Use Diplomatic Cover to Run a Global Cocaine-Smuggling Operation?
After a massive embassy drug bust, a trial is being held in secret, the Kremlin seems to be lying, and sources believe Russian agents are covering up the involvement of officials. → Read More
A Murder in Berlin: The Untold Story of a Chechen ‘Jihadist’ Turned Secret Agent
Before Khangoshvili was gunned down with a silenced Glock, he’d thwarted terror attacks and fingered Russian agents. An exclusive interview with his Georgian case officer. → Read More
True Fiction and Fake Facts: How Putin Played Trump’s Moronic Gang of Lowlifes
Robert Mueller, a rock-ribbed G-man out of a 1950s comic book, has shown us just how prosaic these weapons of mass psychology really are, and what suckers we all were. → Read More
Why W.H. Auden Hated His Most Famous Political Poems
The great poet chronicled the turmoil of the Spanish Civil War and the rise of Fascism but he later renounced his most radical and ardent political work. → Read More
Russia’s Secret Weapon? America’s Idiocracy
What the Russian security services have done very deftly is tap into pre-existing pathologies in our society and encourage them, as an enabler might do a drug addict or alcoholic. → Read More
The Saudis, Khashoggi and Stalin: Why Does One Death Count More Than Thousands?
Khashoggi's murder developed into a grotesque true crime drama. But, like Stalin, the prince allegedly behind it might find ways to turn the horror to his advantage. → Read More
This Is Why Putin Is Targeting Three DHS Agents
Russia’s president is obsessed with the U.S. investigation into hundreds of millions in ill-gotten gains that have benefited his cronies—and very possibly him as well. → Read More
From Russia’s Secret Espionage Archives: The Art of the Dangle
An old KGB training manual shows how Western double agents tried to dupe the Soviet Union during the Cold War. This classic tradecraft can tell us some things about recent events. → Read More
Here’s What the Trump Administration Is Really Plotting in Syria
The president is creating a lot of confusion about the U.S. in Syria, maybe to squeeze cash out of the Saudis. But he’s complicating the already complex policy he signed off on. → Read More
Did the U.S. Really Kill 200+ Russians in Syria—or Just a Few?
The Kremlin hasn’t acknowledged a single loss from the deadliest reported attack since the Cold War ended. And that’s why the Wagner private mercenaries were there to begin with. → Read More
The KGB Playbook for Turning Russians Worldwide Into Agents
A KGB manual showed how valuable—and how treacherous—Russian émigrés could be. Did KGB veteran Vladimir Putin learn those lessons? → Read More
The KGB Playbook for Infiltrating the Middle East
In 1988, the Soviet intelligence service, the KGB, looked at its mistakes in the Middle East, where the CIA often had the upper hand. Putin has worked to change that. → Read More
Revealed: The Secret KGB Manual for Recruiting Spies
The document is from the Cold War. But the material it teaches is still being used today by Vladimir Putin’s clandestine cadres. → Read More
The Trumpkins Turn on Assange
The albinoid antipodean publisher of Wikileaks served the Russians and the Trump campaign well. Now? He's expendable. → Read More
Estonia: The Little Spycatcher Who Could
Every year the Estonians come out with an unvarnished and all too accurate assessment of Russian skullduggery. The latest is very interesting indeed. → Read More
Syrians Are Wise Not to Count on ‘Abu Ivanka’
Six years of brutal war and dashed expectations from the U.S. leave most anti-Assad rebels skeptical of man they call ‘Abu Ivanka.’ → Read More