Eurasia Center

The Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center promotes policies that secure vital American interests by strengthening stability, opposing aggression by US adversaries, and supporting democratic values and economic opportunities from Eastern Europe to the South Caucasus to Russia to Central Asia.

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our regions in focus

Ukraine

Ukraine is the Eurasia Center’s main focus because Russia’s war threatens the vital interests of the United States and its allies. The outcome of the war will determine Ukraine’s future and Europe’s as well. Ukraine’s on-and-off efforts to reform are another area of great attention. Since the 2014 Maidan Revolution, Ukraine has made notable, if uneven, progress toward reform that must continue even as it fights off Moscow’s massive invasion.

Russia

Russia under Vladimir Putin violently menaces its neighbors and seeks to tear down the US-led global order. But the Kremlin aggression of today need not preclude a more peaceful and prosperous tomorrow. While Putin’s regime tries to paint US policy—and Eurasia Center activity—as anti-Russian, the Center’s efforts are based on the understanding that defeating Kremlin aggression in Ukraine will be positive not just for Ukraine, Europe, and the United States, but also for Russia itself.

The Caucasus

Named for the mountain range between southern Russia and northern Turkey and Iran, the South Caucasus is home to the nations of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. This geopolitically complex region has the potential to be a crossroads of global commerce. The Eurasia Center supports efforts for a just peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan and works to help prevent further democratic backsliding by Georgia’s increasingly authoritarian leadership.

Central Asia

The Central Asian republics—Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan —are located at the nexus of Russia, China, South Asia, and the Middle East. Growing dynamism in the region may provide openings for greater freedom and prosperity. It is in US interests that this region not fall under the outsized influence of either China or Russia. The Eurasia Center regularly hosts leaders from Central Asia for expert discussions and high-level events.

Belarus

When Belarusian dictator Alyaksandr Lukashenka attempted to steal the 2020 presidential election, he inadvertently set off a national movement in Belarus toward greater freedom and self-determination that persists today. The Center has reported actively on the efforts of the Belarusian opposition, led by Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, and provided a premier platform to keep Belarus on the agenda in Washington.

Moldova

Moldova has moved fitfully toward an open society and market economy while Moscow has supported separatists in the region of Transnistria. But, its European Union candidacy may herald a better integrated future. The Eurasia Center’s Moldova programming actively promotes the country’s democratic and European future.

Commentary & Analysis

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine

Working with a wide community of experts and thought-leaders, the Eurasia Center delivers cutting-edge analysis and policy recommendations.

Eurasia Center

New Atlanticist Dec 4, 2024

A winning strategy to end Russia’s war against Ukraine

More than a dozen experts from the United States and Europe share their recommendations to the incoming Trump administration about how best to end Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Conflict Politics & Diplomacy
Eurasia Center

UkraineAlert Jul 22, 2024

Andriy Yermak: Ukraine and NATO are restoring Europe’s security architecture

By Andriy Yermak

Together with the country’s allies, Ukraine has set out on the path to restore the European security architecture, writes the head of Ukraine’s Office of the President Andriy Yermak.
Conflict Defense Industry

Flagship publications

Blog

UkraineAlert

UkraineAlert is a comprehensive online publication that provides regular news and analysis on developments in Ukraine’s politics, economy, civil society, and culture. UkraineAlert sources analysis and commentary from a wide-array of thought-leaders, politicians, experts, and activists from Ukraine and the global community. UkraineAlert has become a major publication in Ukraine’s news landscape and has established itself not only through its quality of content but also significant partnerships with English, Ukrainian, and Russian-language media through the country.

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Report series

Russia Tomorrow

The Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center’s pathbreaking Russia Tomorrow series aims to reevaluate conceptions of Russia today and better prepare for its future tomorrow. Through a series of succinct, accessible policy papers, Russia Tomorrow’s expert authors address potential scenarios for Russia’s future, Putin’s web of confidants, the “kremligarch'” infiltration of the West, and much more. Led by Eurasia Center Senior Director John Herbst and nonresident senior fellow Brian Whitmore, Russia Tomorrow delivers insights and policy recommendations from leading experts to enhance our understanding of Russia.

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Featured events

Flagship event

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dedicates his Global Citizen Award to the brave people of Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accepted his Atlantic Council 2023 Global Citizen Award for leading the Ukrainian people in the fight to protect his country’s sovereignty. Zelenskyy dedicated the award to the men and women on the frontlines of the war, the teachers and doctors who kept working despite the threat of missiles, and the children who have been killed.
#ACFRONTPAGE

President Salome Zourabichvili on Georgian democracy and Russian influence

President Salome Zourabichvili joined the Atlantic Council to discuss the current political landscape in Georgia and the role Russia plays in undermining democratic processes in Europe and beyond.

The Eurasia Center regularly convenes with regional leaders and key global figures to galvanize support international support a free, prosperous, and peaceful future in Eurasia.

all events

Leadership

Staff

John E. Herbst

Senior Director

Eurasia Center

Ukraine Politics & Diplomacy

Staff

Shelby Magid

Deputy Director

Eurasia Center

Ukraine Human Rights

Staff

Peter Dickinson

Editor, UkraineAlert

Eurasia Center

Ukraine Civil Society

Staff

Andrew D’Anieri

Associate Director

Eurasia Center

Ukraine Political Reform

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Experts

Fellow

Katerina Sedova

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Eurasia Center

Artificial Intelligence Eastern Europe

Fellow

Myroslava Gongadze

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Eurasia Center

Democratic Transitions Eastern Europe

Fellow

Volodymyr Havrylov

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Eurasia Center

Defense Policy English

Fellow

Valeriya Ionan

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Eurasia Center Europe Center

Digital Policy English

Fellow

Clara Kaluderovic

Nonresident Fellow

Eurasia Center

Artificial Intelligence Economy & Business

Staff

Zahar Hryniv

Program Assistant

Eurasia Center

Ukraine Politics & Diplomacy
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Content

UkraineAlert

Sep 11, 2014

Mariupol: Russia’s Next Target in Ukraine War?

A Strategic City Prepares Its Defense; But if Truce Fails, Its Fate Will be Uncertain Amid the war between Russia and Ukraine, no city is watching the viability of the fragile cease-fire with more apprehension than Ukraine’s second-largest seaport, Mariupol. That is because the city, home to steel mills and, normally, a half-million residents, will […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Sep 10, 2014

The Turning Point

By Timothy Ash

Inaction by US and NATO to Russia’s August Incursion Showed Putin He Could Invade Ukraine History books to be written about the Ukraine crisis and the Battle for Donbas will likely record as a military turning point the battle on September 5 for the town of Ilovaisk. A massive, pinpoint-accurate artillery barrage, using high-tech reconnaissance […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Sep 8, 2014

Russian Court Orders Ukrainian Pilot-Soldier to Undergo Psychiatric Evaluation

Nadiya Savchenko Will Refuse to Submit to ‘Illegal’ Exam, Her Lawyer Says A Russian court has sent Ukrainian soldier and pilot Nadiya Savchenko for a “forensic psychiatric evaluation” at the Moscow institute where Soviet authorities for years performed abusive treatments on political dissidents. Savchenko says she will refuse to submit to the examination, which she […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Sep 8, 2014

Ukraine, Facing Russia on Its Own, Takes the Risk of Truce and Compromise With Moscow

By James Rupert

A Cease-Fire, if It Holds, Could Let the Kremlin Strengthen Its Grip on the Donbas Region When Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko attended the NATO Summit on Friday, it was clear that the Alliance had chosen not to offer his country the weapons it needs to fight the Russian troops and paramilitaries who have invaded his […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Sep 4, 2014

DIRECT TRANSLATION: ‘This Is Vladimir Putin’s War’

By Irena Chalupa

Russia’s Former Deputy Prime Minister Explains to Ukrainians Why His Government Has Invaded Their Country Again With Russia again having escalated its war on Ukraine last month (sending in paratroopers from its 76th and 98th Airborne Divisions, plus armor and artillery), few are asking what is really driving the Kremlin’s military campaign in Ukraine’s southeast. […]

Russia Ukraine

In the News

Sep 4, 2014

Herbst: “Ukrainian Forces are Outgunned by Russia”

By John Herbst

Bloomberg Businessweek quotes Eurasia Center Director John Herbst on what Russian President Vladimir Putin’s hopes to achieve in Ukraine:

NATO Russia

In the News

Sep 1, 2014

Bryza: Call Putin’s Bluff- He Will Not Cut Off Europe’s Gas

By Matthew Bryza

Eurasia Center Nonresident Senior Fellow Matthew Bryza writes for the Financial Times on how Europe can survive this year’s winter without importing more Russian energy:

European Union International Organizations

News

Aug 29, 2014

Herbst in Wiadomosci

By John Herbst

Polish-language Wiadomosci quotes Eurasia Center Director John Herbst:

UkraineAlert

Aug 28, 2014

DIRECT TRANSLATION: Russian Tycoon “Will No Longer Be Silent” on Ukraine War

By Irena Chalupa

Mikhail Khodorkovsky Calls for General Strike in Russia to Protest Invasion The Russian tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, former chairman of Yukos, once Russia’s biggest oil company, is speaking out against the toll that the Kremlin’s undeclared war on Ukraine is taking on Russians. Khodorkovsky, a Putin foe who spent nearly ten years in prison on politically […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Aug 28, 2014

Russia Secretively Buries its Soldiers Killed in the Ukraine War

By Irena Chalupa

Russian military officials stood at a cemetery surrounded by forest in far northwestern Russia, early Tuesday morning, and carefully vetted the army officers, soldiers and family members arriving for a funeral to be held in secrecy. Two paratroopers from Russia’s 76th Airborne Division were to be buried. They died last week – no one would […]

Russia Ukraine
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