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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

Feb 12, 2020

Ullman in UPI: Politics of fear: China and Russia aren’t 10 feet tall

By Harlan Ullman

China Politics & Diplomacy

In the News

Feb 12, 2020

Cohen joins RTVI (Russian) to discuss Turkey-Russia relations on the issue of Syria

By Atlantic Council

Europe & Eurasia Politics & Diplomacy

New Atlanticist

Feb 12, 2020

The Arctic is “not up for grabs,” Norwegian ambassador says

By Connor McPartland

“The Arctic is changing, but our objectives remain the same: to secure peace and stability,” Norwegian Ambassador to the United States Kare R. Aas said on February 6. During keynote address opening the Atlantic Council’s “Looking North: Conference on Security in the Arctic,” Aas laid out Norway’s approach to the Arctic, noting that it takes its role as an Arctic state seriously.

NATO Northern Europe

New Atlanticist

Feb 7, 2020

The Yalta Conference at seventy-five: Lessons from history

By Daniel Fried

One lesson is that core values may have more viability than it seems, especially in the long term: for two generations after 1945, foreign policy professionals and scholars concluded that Roosevelt’s weak defense of Poland at and immediately after Yalta was pointless (or cynical) and that the principles of the Atlantic Charter were inapplicable east of the Iron Curtain. Soviet domination there, it was implicitly (and sometimes explicitly) accepted, was forever. But it turned out otherwise. The Yalta Conference failed but Yalta Europe was not forever. The strategic vision that Roosevelt spelled out in the Atlantic Charter and sought to realize at Yalta—even if miserably—now seems the right one.

Central Europe Politics & Diplomacy

In the News

Feb 6, 2020

Katz in Al Jazeera Centre for Studies: Whatever His Title, He Plans to Remain in Charge: Is it a Solo ‘Tandemocracy’ Now?

By Atlantic Council

Politics & Diplomacy Russia

New Atlanticist

Feb 5, 2020

The case for extending New START

By Alexander Vershbow

US and global security would be greatly enhanced by extending New START for another five years. Extension would preserve the last effective and verifiable agreement that limits the strategic arms competition between the United States and Russia and make it easier to maintain deterrence and strategic stability by allowing both sides an assured second-strike capability.

Arms Control Nuclear Deterrence

UkraineAlert

Feb 4, 2020

International law may yet contain Putin in Ukraine

By Michel Waelbroeck and Willem Aldershoff

Rival interpretations of the 2015 Minsk Protocols have brought Ukraine and Russia to deadlock in negotiations to end the undeclared six-year war between the two nations - but could international law help Ukraine to win the diplomatic argument?

Conflict Russia

New Atlanticist

Jan 31, 2020

The Russian threat is scaring Sweden

By Anders Åslund

After Russia’s aggression against Ukraine in February 2014, the Swedish thinking about its defense has changed remarkably. Like most of Europe, Sweden had steadily disarmed for a quarter of a century after the end of the Cold War, and its military expenditure had sunk to 1 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). Russia’s actions against Ukraine woke Sweden up. Swedes got upset, while the Finns were worried. Together with Poland and the three Baltic states, Sweden has been among the European Union countries most committed to sanctions against Russia over Ukraine.

Defense Policy Northern Europe

UkraineAlert

Jan 30, 2020

Сегодня Крым, Россия завтра?

By Melinda Haring

С аннексии Крыма весной 2014 года, Россия изменяла Украинский полуостров на темную дырку человеческих прав и огромная военную базу. Эта худшая ситуация может быть переменены в других местах в России и дальше, предупреждает Мелинда Харинг.

Conflict Economic Sanctions

UkraineAlert

Jan 30, 2020

Crimea today, Russia tomorrow?

By Melinda Haring

Since seizing Crimea in spring 2014, Russia has transformed the Ukrainian peninsula into a human rights black hole and a giant military base. This deteriorating situation could be replicated elsewhere in Russia and beyond, warns Melinda Haring.

Human Rights Russia

Experts