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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

In the News

Jan 28, 2021

Power Vertical Podcast: Taking It To The Streets: Confronting the Putin-Lukashenka Axis

By Atlantic Council

Belarus Corruption

UkraineAlert

Jan 28, 2021

Navalny’s anti-Putin message resonates in Russia’s regions

By Maria Snegovaya

Alexei Navalny’s anti-Putin message clearly resonates with residents of Russian regions far away from the country’s traditional centers of political activity in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

Civil Society Democratic Transitions

UkraineAlert

Jan 28, 2021

Navalny vs Putin: what next?

By Peter Dickinson

January 23 saw some of the biggest anti-regime protests across Russia in recent years. What can we expect from the escalating confrontation between Vladimir Putin and opposition leader Alexei Navalny?

Corruption Democratic Transitions

BelarusAlert

Jan 27, 2021

Protest mood spreads from Belarus to Russia as calls grow for post-Soviet change

By Brian Whitmore

As Russians took to the streets across eleven time zones on January 23 to protest the jailing of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, many of them also had protests in neighboring Belarus on their minds.

Belarus Civil Society

UkraineAlert

Jan 26, 2021

Russia’s Navalny protests provoke mixed emotions in Ukraine

By Peter Dickinson

Ukraine has good reasons to support the current Russian protests against Kremlin corruption, but many Ukrainians remain suspicious of protest leader Alexei Navalny's troubling nationalist background.

Conflict Corruption

New Atlanticist

Jan 25, 2021

Navalny’s arrest is Biden’s first big test. Here’s how he can pass it.

By Daniel Fried, Anders Åslund

What happens next matters. The US response (or lack of response) will show how much Russian President Vladimir Putin’s internal repression—including assassinations—will factor into the Biden team’s overall Russia policy. The trick for the Biden administration will be to respond with sufficient firmness and cross-Atlantic coordination to puncture Putin’s apparent sense of impunity while leaving space for cooperation with Russia where that makes sense.

Economic Sanctions Russia

In the News

Jan 25, 2021

Snegovaya quoted by BBC Russia on Russia’s latest protest wave

By Atlantic Council

Politics & Diplomacy Russia

In the News

Jan 24, 2021

Gen. Cartwright quoted in New York Times on great-power competition in space

By Atlantic Council

On January 24, Atlantic Council Board Director and former Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen James E. Cartwright, USMC (Ret.) was quoted in a New York Times article titled "How space became the next 'great power' contest between the US and China." The article concludes that President Biden must view the Chinese anti-satellite threat in space as one of the most pressing national security issues of his administration.

China Russia

In the News

Jan 23, 2021

Davidzon in Foreign Policy: Navalny Is All-In on Bringing Down Putinism

By Atlantic Council

Civil Society Corruption

In the News

Jan 22, 2021

Kroenig and Ashford discuss implications of Biden’s appointments on US foreign policy

By Atlantic Council

On January 22, Foreign Policy published a biweekly column featuring Scowcroft Center deputy director Matthew Kroenig and New American Engagement Initiative senior fellow Emma Ashford discussing the latest news in international affairs. In this column, they discuss the Biden team’s approach to China, the appointments of Tony Blinken and Avril Haines, Secretary of Defense Austin’s agenda, and entering […]

China Civil Society

Experts