issue spotlight

Stay updated

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

recent events

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

Russia's "little green men" at military base in Crimea, March 9, 2014

NATOSource

Aug 29, 2016

A Powerful Russian Weapon: The Spread of False Stories

By Neil MacFarquhar, New York Times

In Crimea, eastern Ukraine and now Syria, Mr. Putin has flaunted a modernized and more muscular military.

Central Europe Germany

In the News

Aug 29, 2016

Ullman in UPI: It’s Not Too Late for Obama to Get Russian Relations Back on Track

By Harlan Ullman

Read the full article here.

Russia

UkraineAlert

Aug 29, 2016

Three Mythologies of European Security

By Stephen Blank

Samuel Johnson famously told his biographer James Boswell, “Clear your mind of cant.” In thinking about European security, we should do so, too.

Russia Ukraine

In the News

Aug 27, 2016

Bryza in Newsweek: NATO Must Act to Halt Turkey’s Freefall into Putin’s Arms

By Matthew Bryza

Read the full article here.

NATO Russia
Russian President Vladimir Putin, July 21, 2016

NATOSource

Aug 26, 2016

The NATO Blame Game

By Lucas Della Ventura, The Hill

The claim is that NATO’s expansion eastward, Ukraine and Georgia’s cozying up to the West, and historically neutral Finland and Sweden’s new interest in NATO membership have enticed Russia’s aggressive behavior,

NATO NATO Partnerships

UkraineAlert

Aug 26, 2016

How One University Defied Putin and His Armed Mob

By Melinda Haring

On July 7, 2014, Russian-backed separatists entered Donetsk and occupied four dormitories at Donetsk National University; armed gunmen expelled students from their rooms in the middle of the night. Nine days later, the separatists seized the entire university. During that summer, separatists stole at least seventeen university vehicles and converted student dorms into barracks for […]

Russia Ukraine
Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, August 23, 2016

NATOSource

Aug 25, 2016

Top US General: Russia Trying to Undermine NATO

By Jim Garamone, DoD News

The threat baseline, he [Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford] said, is four-plus-one: Russia, China, Iran, North Korea and violent extremism.

NATO Russia

UkraineAlert

Aug 25, 2016

Ukraine: Forwards or Backwards? A Response to Thomas Theiner and James Brooke

By Martin Nunn

When driving a car, it is essential to look forward to assess changing road conditions, new obstacles, and new opportunities. Prudent drivers—and investors—regularly check the rear view mirrors, but their main focus is on the future.

Russia Ukraine

In the News

Aug 25, 2016

Ullman in Daily Times: Russia: Enigma, Riddle, or Something Else?

By Harlan Ullman

Read the full article here.

Russia

UkraineAlert

Aug 25, 2016

Does Ukraine Need an Anti-Corruption Court?

By Thomas Firestone

The recent scandal surrounding alleged payments made to Paul Manafort by the former Ukrainian government has again cast a spotlight on corruption in Ukraine. Whatever one thinks of the Manafort story, no one can dispute that Ukrainians are entitled to an honest government that does not steal from them. But how can Ukraine achieve this […]

Russia Ukraine

Experts