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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

New Atlanticist

May 21, 2018

The Atlantic Council Must be Open to Dialogue—Even if Critics Disagree

By John E. Herbst

I am sorry to see the letter from a group that opposes a private dinner that we are holding with Peter Aven and Mikhail Fridman of Alfa Group. I have the greatest of respect for this distinguished group of people, and we have more often been on the same side when it comes to campaigning […]

Russia

New Atlanticist

May 21, 2018

Oligarchs from Alfa Group Should be Asked Critical Questions at the Atlantic Council Dinner

By The Undersigned (Signatories Below)

Last week we—Russian and US experts and activists—learned that an off-the-record roundtable dinner with Mikhail Fridman and Petr Aven, principals of the Alfa Group, will be held on May 21 at the Atlantic Council. These Kremlin regime insiders are both listed on the January update of the US government list “Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions […]

Russia

EconoGraphics

May 18, 2018

US Sanctions’ Global Impact – A Case Study of RUSAL’s Supply Chain

By Ole Moehr

On April 6, 2018, the Trump Administration imposed stiff economic sanctions on 37 Russian oligarchs, oligarch-owned companies, Russian government officials, and state-owned companies.

Economic Sanctions Economy & Business

UkraineAlert

May 17, 2018

How to Make Sense of Japan’s Delicate Balance Between Russia and Ukraine

By Maria Shagina

Showing solidarity with other G7 countries following Russia’s 2014 invasion of Ukraine, Japan imposed sanctions on Russia—albeit reluctantly. The Ukraine crisis occurred amid Japan’s efforts to reinvigorate Japan-Russia relations in the hope of solving the long-standing territorial dispute over the Northern territories (the Kuril Islands in Russian). Subsequently, maintaining Japan’s balance between other G7 countries […]

China Japan

New Atlanticist

May 16, 2018

Russia is Anxious About War. Here’s How the United States Should Respond

By Ariel Cohen

US President Donald J. Trump’s decision to withdraw the United States from the Iran nuclear deal may increase the prospects of instability in the Middle East. However, Russia is likely to interpret this instability through the prism of what many politicians and analysts in Moscow like to call the “approaching global confrontation with the United […]

Russia

In the News

May 15, 2018

Åslund Quoted in Reuters on Rusal’s Escape of U.S. Sanctions

By Anders Aslund

Read the full article here

Russia

UkraineAlert

May 15, 2018

What Does Ukraine’s New Military Approach Toward the Donbas Mean?

By Vera Zimmerman

Ukraine wants to reframe its approach to resolving the ongoing conflict with Russia. Beginning last month, the military is now in charge of ground operations. The launch of the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) replaced the four-year Anti-Terrorism Operation (ATO) and marks Ukraine’s shift to a more active defense. President Petro Poroshenko thinks that the new […]

Russia Ukraine

In the News

May 9, 2018

Shaffer Quoted in DW on Russian-German Gas Pipeline

By Brenda Shaffer

Read the full article here

Germany Russia

New Atlanticist

May 9, 2018

Russia’s 2017 Defense Spending Cut Is Not What It Seems

By Brooks Tigner

BRUSSELS — The May 2 announcement by SIPRI, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, that Russia’s defense budget in 2017 fell by 20 percent made many headlines across the West, with predictions of major fallout for Moscow’s military modernization goals, operations, and tactics and its international influence. However, the reality is far from that scenario […]

NATO Russia

Report

May 9, 2018

Georgia’s path westward

By William Courtney, Daniel Fried, and Kenneth Yalowitz

Georgia has overcome many challenges and now stands as a striking example of a reforming and Western-oriented country transcending the limitations of decades of Soviet rule.

Conflict Defense Policy

Experts