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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

Issue Brief

Feb 3, 2016

The renewed Russian nuclear threat and NATO nuclear deterrence posture

By Matthew Kroenig

Over the past decade, Russia has made nuclear weapons a predominant element of its national security strategy and military doctrine, while NATO has consciously de-emphasized its nuclear posture.

NATO Nuclear Deterrence

In the News

Feb 3, 2016

Herbst Joins CNN to Discuss US Decision to Increase Military Spending on Its Forces in Europe

By John E. Herbst

Watch the full interview here.

Russia

UkraineAlert

Feb 3, 2016

Russian Propaganda in Ukraine: Fighting Phantoms

By Roman Shutov

For Ukrainians, the war in eastern Ukraine has become an everyday reality. Only two years ago, though, no one in the country believed war was possible—and certainly no one expected that propaganda would be one of its main weapons. Since Ukraine’s independence in 1991, little attention was paid to building a system that would ensure […]

Russia Ukraine

In the News

Feb 2, 2016

Koranyi Quoted by Trend on Energy Relations Between Saudi Arabia and Russia

By David Koranyi

Read the full article here.

Russia Saudi Arabia

UkraineAlert

Feb 2, 2016

Thanks But No Thanks, Mr. Inozemtsev: A Response from Kyiv

By Olga Bielkova

What is wrong with Vladislav Inozemtsev’s recent opinion piece on how to help Ukraine? The problem with his article is not his advice itself, as flawed as it is, but the logic on which it is built. He uses the logic of imperialism, of an authoritarian state, of conspiracy theorists for whom the world is […]

Russia Ukraine
The 2015 annual report by NATO's Secretary General

NATOSource

Feb 1, 2016

Valuable Data from the Annual Report by NATO’s Secretary General

By Jens Stoltenberg, NATO

The NATO Response Force (NRF) is a highly ready and technologically advanced multinational force made up of land, air, maritime and Special Operations Forces components that the Alliance can deploy quickly, wherever needed, when authorised by the North Atlantic Council

European Union International Organizations

UkraineAlert

Feb 1, 2016

Putin Gets It Wrong Again: Eurasian Economic Union Hurts Russia

By Anders Åslund

In June 2009, Vladimir Putin unexpectedly launched the idea of a customs union with Belarus and Kazakhstan. Soon it was named the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU). In September 2013, Armenia agreed to join, and Kyrgyzstan joined in 2015. This is a Russian initiative, dominated by Russia in all regards. Its secretariat is located in Moscow. […]

Russia Ukraine

In the News

Jan 30, 2016

Shaffer Quoted by Voice of America Russia Service on Today’s Economic Situation in Russia

By Brenda Shaffer

Read the full article here.

Russia

In the News

Jan 30, 2016

Cohen Quoted by Facenews Ukraine on Russian Propaganda and Inviolability of Borders in the Twenty-First Century

By Ariel Cohen

Read the full article here.

Russia

New Atlanticist

Jan 29, 2016

In Putin’s Russia, Intellectuals Trapped in a ‘Zone of Silence’

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Writers debate ‘shrinking’ space for independent media Intellectuals in Russia today suffer a fate that they consider to be worse than death—being forced to remain silent. “Instead of killing us they offer to move us to the zone of complete silence,” said Ilya Danishevsky, Chief Editor of the Vremena Publishing House. While some may view this […]

Russia Ukraine

Experts