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COMMENTARY & ANALYSIS

The Power Vertical

The Power Vertical is a blog and podcast for Russia wonks and Kremlin watchers by Brian Whitmore. It covers emerging and developing trends in Russian politics, shining a spotlight on the high-stakes power struggles, machinations, and clashing interests that shape Kremlin policy today.

Host and Eurasia Center Senior Fellow Brian Whitmore invites guest experts to deliver their insights and analysis in this weekly podcast. The Atlantic Council and the Charles T. McDowell Center for Global Studies at the University of Texas at Arlington co-sponsor this production.

The Russia Tomorrow series

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The Eurasia Center’s mission is to enhance transatlantic cooperation in promoting stability, democratic values and prosperity in Eurasia, from Eastern Europe and Turkey in the West to the Caucasus, Russia and Central Asia in the East.

Content

UkraineAlert

Nov 22, 2022

Putin’s peace ploy is a ruse to rearm

By Dennis Soltys

Russia is currently calling for a return to the negotiating table but Ukrainian leaders are convinced Vladimir Putin is merely seeking to buy time in order to regroup and rearm before the next phase of his invasion.

Conflict Disinformation

UkraineAlert

Nov 22, 2022

Ukraine must be allowed to strike back against targets inside Russia

By Ira Straus

In order to defeat Putin and end the war, Ukraine must be allowed to strike back inside Russia. At present, this is not possible due to restrictions imposed by Ukraine's overly cautious international allies, writes Ira Straus.

Arms Control Conflict

Fast Thinking

Nov 21, 2022

The big success and bigger failure of COP27

By Atlantic Council

What other surprises cropped up at the conference? Our experts, who were on the ground in Sharm el Sheikh, are here to weigh in.

Brazil China

UkraineAlert

Nov 20, 2022

Putin’s invasion has strengthened the case for Ukrainian NATO membership

By Taras Kuzio

Vladimir Putin's ongoing invasion has highlighted the dangers of allowing Ukraine to exist in a geopolitical gray zone and strengthened arguments for the country's post-war NATO integration, writes Taras Kuzio.

Conflict Disinformation
Anti-LGBTQ counter-protesters stomp on a rainbow flag during a protest by gay rights activists in central Moscow, June 11, 2013. (Source: Reuters/Maxim Shemetov)

New Atlanticist

Nov 18, 2022

Russian War Report: Russia defends ‘traditional values,’ criminalizes LGBTQ ‘propaganda’

By Digital Forensic Research Lab

After two Polish citzens were killed by a missile, Poland and NATO both say the hit was not a Russian attack. Meanwhile, Putin enacts an anti-LGBTQ ord

Central Europe Civil Society

Report

Nov 18, 2022

Mali: West out, Russia in, and then?

By Petr Tůma

Unlike with violent upheavals and wars that have recently shaken the broader Middle East and North African region, in Mali, the West—specifically Europe led by France—decided to mitigate the crisis through a long-term military engagement, though not as extensive as in Afghanistan or Iraq.

North & West Africa Russia

Report

Nov 18, 2022

“Conflict management” à-la-Russe in the Middle East and Africa

By Chiara Lovotti

Over the past 10 years, much has been said about Russia’s interventions in conflicts in the wide region stretching from the Middle East to central Africa, encompassing North Africa and the Sahel.

Middle East Russia

IranSource

Nov 18, 2022

Iran’s export of drones to Russia will lead to more proliferation and threaten US partners

By Seth J. Frantzman

Russia’s increasing use of Iranian drones in the war in Ukraine has spotlighted the danger that Iran’s drones pose globally and regionally.

Defense Technologies Europe & Eurasia

Conflict, Risk, and Tech

Nov 18, 2022

GRU 26165: The Russian cyber unit that hacks targets on-site

By Justin Sherman

Russian hackers are not always breaching targets from afar, typing on their keyboards in Moscow bunkers or St. Petersburg apartment buildings. Enter GRU Unit 26165, a military cyber unit with hackers operating remotely and on-site. Going forward, Western intelligence and law enforcement personnel, as well as multinational organizations, would be wise to pay attention. 

Cybersecurity Russia

In the News

Nov 17, 2022

Brzezinski and Scheunemann in El Mercurio: NATO reactions to the missile strikes in Poland (in Spanish)

On November 17, TSI NRSF Ian Brzezinski and TSI Deputy Director Leah Scheunemann were quoted on NATO reactions in the wake of wayward missile strikes in Poland (text in Spanish).

Europe & Eurasia Missile Defense

Experts