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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

Apr 28, 2020

Coronavirus crisis spells doom for Putin’s dreams of rebuilding the Soviet empire

By Solomiia Bobrovska

The coronavirus crisis has sparked a collapse in oil prices that is hitting Russia hard. With the Kremlin coffers increasingly empty, could change be on the horizon in Moscow for the first time since 1991?

Coronavirus Russia

New Atlanticist

Apr 28, 2020

Russian journalists fire back as their Kremlin-picked editor draws a line in the sand

By Doug Klain

Another source of reliable information for the Russian public is under threat at a time when it’s more needed than ever, with the country looking down the barrel at another sixteen years of Putin’s strongman rule.

Coronavirus Corruption

UkraineAlert

Apr 23, 2020

Does Putin want peace?

By Peter Dickinson

The election of Volodymyr Zelenskyy as Ukraine's new president in April 2019 raised hopes of a breakthrough towards peace in the country's war with Russia. One year on, it is clear that only Putin can end the conflict.

Conflict Russia

In the News

Apr 22, 2020

Herbst and Debra Cagan in The American Interest: How the oil shock will contain Putin

By Atlantic Council

Russia’s foreign policy has always been closely tied to the price of its primary export—energy. With oil prices hitting record lows, can the country afford Vladimir Putin’s foreign adventures? Eurasia Center Director John Herbst joined Debra Cagan, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense, to write an op-ed arguing that plunging oil prices will constrain […]

Geopolitics & Energy Security Oil and Gas

UkraineAlert

Apr 21, 2020

Ukraine cannot stay neutral in Putin’s history war

By Oleksiy Goncharenko

Russian leader Vladimir Putin has sought to enforce his version of history on Ukraine as part of efforts to dominate the country. It is time for Ukraine to fight back and establish its own national narratives.

Russia Ukraine

EnergySource

Apr 20, 2020

Containing Russian influence in Venezuela

By David L. Goldwyn and Andrea Clabough

The Russian government has been instrumental in preserving the Maduro regime, despite years of intense domestic and international pressure favoring a democratic transition, providing the regime invaluable diplomatic leverage, security personnel, and material, as well as an economic lifeline. The US strategy for a democratic Venezuela must recognize these realities and focus on containing Russian influence in Venezuela, as it cannot end it.

Economic Sanctions Economy & Business

Borscht Belt

Apr 17, 2020

Why strongmen love the coronavirus

By Atlantic Council Eurasia Center

As the COVID-19 pandemic sweeps across the globe, autocratic governments are finding the crisis to be a useful pretext for strengthening their rule and tightening their grips.

Coronavirus Corruption

In the News

Apr 15, 2020

Sherman quoted in Slate on Russia censoring false information about the coronavirus

By Atlantic Council

Coronavirus Disinformation

New Atlanticist

Apr 14, 2020

Putin concedes defeat in the oil price war

By Anders Åslund

Russia's price war with Saudi Arabia backfired, and Putin's backtracking may signal that he is starting to sour on one of his key officials.

Coronavirus Oil and Gas

UkraineAlert

Apr 13, 2020

Why appeasing Putin in Ukraine won’t work

By Paul D’Anieri

Western leaders are eager for a deal to end the undeclared war between Russia and Ukraine, but any attempt to appease Putin risks encouraging further imperial aggression, writes Paul D’Anieri.

Conflict Politics & Diplomacy

Experts

Events