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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.

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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

May 9, 2016

Why EU Sanctions on Russia Are Overrated but Still Needed

By Christopher A. Hartwell and Andreas Umland

Calls for canceling the EU’s sanctions on Russia after they expire in July 2016 have recently been gathering momentum across Western Europe. On April 28, the French parliament passed a non-binding resolution recommending that the EU’s trade limits and other restrictions on Russia be lifted. Framing the sanctions as both ineffective and dangerous to France’s […]

Russia Ukraine
Troops participating in NATO Noble Jump exercise, June 14, 2015

NATOSource

May 6, 2016

Restoring Conventional Deterrence in Europe: How to Climb Out of the Joint Security Trap

By Jeffrey A. Stacey

Russia is currently riding high on the geostrategic landscape, despite a trove of domestic economic woes that stem partly from Western sanctions.

NATO Russia
NATO exercise in Baltic Sea, May 29, 2015

NATOSource

May 6, 2016

The Case for a More Robust NATO Presence in the Baltic Sea

By Franklin D. Kramer and Magnus Nordenman

NATO has also begun to plan and exercise for maritime contingencies in the region, with additional bilateral and national exercises as complements.

France Germany
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, March 7, 2009

NATOSource

May 6, 2016

Russia Warns Sweden About NATO Membership, May Deploy Missiles

By Dagen Nyheter and RT

From Dagens Nyheter:  Excerpts from Michael Winiarski interview with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

NATO NATO Partnerships

In the News

May 5, 2016

Simakovsky Quoted by Voice of America on the Kremlin’s Precautionary Actions

By Mark D. Simakovsky

Read the full article here.

Russia

In the News

May 5, 2016

Cohen Joins The Tipping Point to Discuss a Resurgent Russia

By Ariel Cohen

Russia

In the News

May 5, 2016

Nordenman Quoted by CNN on Russia’s Submarine Arsenal and Strategy in Northern Europe

By Magnus Nordenman

Read the full article here.

European Union International Organizations

UkraineAlert

May 4, 2016

The Long Arm of Russian “Soft” Power

By Orysia Lutsevych

Anxious about losing ground to Western influence in the post-Soviet space and the ousting of pro-Russia elites by popular electoral uprisings in the early 2000s, the Kremlin has developed a range of proxy groups in support of its foreign policy. This network of pro-Kremlin groups promotes the Russian World (Russkiy Mir), a flexible tool that […]

Moldova Russia
Secretary of Defense Ash Carter and Gen. Joseph Dunford, May. 3, 2016

NATOSource

May 3, 2016

Secretary of Defense Carter: Russia’s Loose Talk about Nuclear Weapons is ‘Most Disturbing’

By AP and Fox News

From AP: Defense Secretary Ash Carter used a U.S. military changing-of-the-guard ceremony Tuesday to blast Russian aggression in Europe, saying Moscow is “going backward in time” with warlike actions that compel a U.S. military buildup on NATO’s eastern flank.

NATO Nuclear Nonproliferation
Exercise Iron Sword, Jan. 15, 2013

NATOSource

May 3, 2016

SACEUR: In a World of Instability, NATO is a Linchpin for Peace

By Philip M. Breedlove, Washington Post

The NATO alliance is arguably the most critical linchpin supporting stability on the continent that is home to the world’s largest integrated economy — and, incidentally, on the continent that has in the past century or so spawned the world’s most destructive conflicts.

NATO Russia

Experts

Events