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

Tatiana Gfoeller

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Eurasia Center

Arabic Central Asia

Fellow

Brianne Todd

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Eurasia Center

Central Asia English

Fellow

Oksana Nechyporenko

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Eurasia Center

Civil Society Education

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
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Content

UkraineAlert

Aug 14, 2014

New Ukraine Orthodox Leader Signals Continued Church Divide

By Irena Chalupa

Ukrainians’ Traditional Loyalty to Moscow Patriarch is Strained by His Close Tie to Kremlin  The longstanding divide between Ukraine’s two main Orthodox churches will continue with little change following the election yesterday of a new leader, or metropolitan, by the Moscow-aligned faction. Metropolitan Onufriy is a religious conservative loyal to his church’s formal subordination to […]

Russia Ukraine

Event Recap

Aug 14, 2014

Ukrainians Will Not Compromise With Russia, Nayyem Says

Ukrainian Journalist Urges West: Don’t Press Kyiv to Halt Advance Four months into their battle with Russia over southeast Ukraine, Ukrainians will not allow their government to compromise Ukraine’s sovereignty in the region, and the international community should not press it to do so, prominent Ukrainian journalist Mustafa Nayyem said at the Atlantic Council. Ukraine […]

Russia Ukraine

Event Recap

Aug 13, 2014

Eyewitness: Battle for Ukraine

By The Atlantic Council

On Tuesday, August 12th, the Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center hosted an on-the-record small group discussion with one of Ukraine’s most prominent journalists, Mustafa Nayyem. The event was introduced and moderated by Atlantic Council Writer and Editor Irena Chalupa.

Europe & Eurasia Ukraine

New Atlanticist

Aug 12, 2014

To confront ISIS, get arms and emergency help to Iraq’s Kurds

By Bina Hussein and David Koranyi

US Has Declined to Arm Kurdish Forces, But That Now Must Change Iraq’s national army effectively has collapsed before the advance of the brutal guerrillas of the Islamic State, leaving only one effective fighting force – the Kurdish peshmerga – to confront them. As the Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) has seized much […]

Iraq

New Atlanticist

Aug 11, 2014

Erdoğan Victory Will Extend Turkey’s Polarization, Tension with US

By Ross Wilson

Turkish Opposition Fails to Coalesce Around a Message and a Leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s widely-expected election to the presidency of Turkey won’t herald major changes in Turkey’s domestic or foreign policies, or in US-Turkish relations – at least in the short term. Polarization, an increasingly predominant characteristic of Turkey’s politics for at least seven years, […]

Elections Politics & Diplomacy

UkraineAlert

Aug 11, 2014

Russian-Backed Rebels Put a Local Man Out Front, But Still Look Divided

By Irena Chalupa

Separatists Show No Unity Under New Donetsk ‘Prime Minister,’ Kremlin Paper Says The Kremlin and its proxy rebellion in southeastern Ukraine seemed to recognize last week that as a supposedly Ukrainian uprising, it should have a titular Ukrainian leader, rather than a Moscow-based Russian ultra-nationalist with ties to the Kremlin. So after three months as […]

Russia Ukraine

New Atlanticist

Aug 8, 2014

Turkey Votes Whether to Give Erdoğan the Keys to the Constitution

By Leyla Kravitz

A Prime Minister Aims to Become President, and Then Concentrate Power in His New Job ISTANBUL — Turkey’s voters are likely this month to elect Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to a new job as the country’s president, putting him on a path to re-write the constitution and forge a more centralized, presidential government. After […]

Elections Europe & Eurasia

In the News

Aug 8, 2014

Herbst on Sanctions Against Russia

By John Herbst

Eurasia Center Director John Herbst joins the John Batchelor Show to discuss new European Union sanctions against Russia:  Listen to the interview here.

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Aug 7, 2014

Putin Will Decide Captured Ukrainian Pilot’s Fate, Her Lawyer Says

By Irena Chalupa

Nadiya Savchenko’s Trial is Political, Not Legal, Says Human Rights Attorney Mark Feygin Although a Russian court is preparing to try Ukrainian military pilot Nadiya Savchenko on war-related charges, it is Russian President Vladimir Putin who will decide her fate, said Savchenko’s defense attorney, Russian human rights lawyer Mark Feygin.

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Aug 7, 2014

Kremlin Silences Crimea’s Last Pro-Ukraine TV Station

By Irena Chalupa

Shutdown Virtually Completes Muffling of Crimean Media On August 1, police in Crimea entered the headquarters of the Chornomorska Television Company to shut it down, virtually completing Russia’s silencing of all Ukrainian and independent media on the peninsula five months after its invasion. The Moscow-backed authorities had already halted other Ukrainian broadcasts and have progressively been constricting Chornomorska […]

Russia Ukraine
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