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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

Sep 26, 2022

From the UN to The Late Show, Ukraine’s diplomats are winning

By Pete Shmigel

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba recently quipped at the UN that "Russian diplomats flee almost as aptly as Russian soldiers.” This one-liner was typical of the creative diplomacy that is bolstering Ukraine's war effort.

Conflict Democratic Transitions

UkraineAlert

Sep 26, 2022

Ukrainian priest recounts escape from Russian siege of Mariupol

By Melinda Haring, Vladislav Davidzon

The Siege of Mariupol was the deadliest engagement so far in Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Ukrainian priest Father Pavel Kostel recounts his harrowing experience of escaping from the encircled city.

Conflict Freedom and Prosperity
Conscripts board a train carriage at a local railway station during their departure for the garrisons, in Omsk

New Atlanticist

Sep 23, 2022

Russian War Report: Russia conducts partial mobilization amid battlefield losses

By Digital Forensic Research Lab

As Ukraine's advances into its eastern territory put Russia under additional pressure, Putin declared a partial mobilization in the country.

Conflict Disinformation

In the News

Sep 23, 2022

Roberts on Xi-Putin Meeting

On September 15, IPSI Senior Fellow Dexter Tiff Roberts published an article titled, “The Xi-Putin meeting: It’s not about the money,” in The China Project. Roberts argues that, despite Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping’s announcement of a “no limits” partnership, it does, in fact, face serious limits. Roberts concludes that politics underlie Xi’s close relations […]

China Politics & Diplomacy

New Atlanticist

Sep 23, 2022

The EU’s Russia visa ban debate reveals the bloc’s new power center

By Petr Tůma

The consensus on visa policy toward Russia is yet another sign of Central and Eastern Europe’s rise to political prominence.

European Union International Norms

New Atlanticist

Sep 22, 2022

The dollar has some would-be rivals. Meet the challengers.

By Ananya Kumar, Josh Lipsky

What are the realistic alternatives to the dollar that US and allied policymakers should be paying attention to? And how can they respond?

China Digital Currencies

In the News

Sep 22, 2022

Webster quoted in El Mundo on China’s perspective on the war in Ukraine

China Politics & Diplomacy

UkraineAlert

Sep 22, 2022

Will Ukraine invasion condemn Putin to place among Russia’s worst rulers?

By Anders Åslund

Vladimir Putin has long dreamed of securing his place among the titans of Russian history but his disastrous Ukraine invasion now leaves him destined to be remembered as one of the country’s worst rulers.

Conflict Corruption

Fast Thinking

Sep 21, 2022

FAST THINKING: What to make of Putin’s nuclear threats

By Atlantic Council

Our experts weigh in on whether Putin's latest rhetoric is more bluster—or the beginning of a dangerous new phase in his war on Ukraine.

Conflict Crisis Management

UkraineAlert

Sep 21, 2022

Putin’s nuclear ultimatum is a desperate bid to freeze a losing war

By Peter Dickinson

Vladimir Putin's threat to use nuclear weapons in the war against Ukraine is a sign of the Russian dictator's mounting desperation as his invasion continues to unravel and his country's geopolitical isolation deepens.

Central Asia Conflict

Experts