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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

UkraineAlert

Jan 5, 2016

Putin’s Next Potential Target: The Baltic States

By Stephen Blank

Although Russia’s economy is reeling and its military forces are increasingly engaged in Syria and Ukraine, NATO commanders, governments, and analysts are concerned that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s adventurism has not run its course. Most anxieties focus on the Baltic states as Russia’s next potential military target. Russia has many advantages in the Baltics. The […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jan 5, 2016

From Ordinary Business Trip to Russian Jail: Former Ukrainian Political Prisoner Exhorts West to Keep Pressure on Russia

By Yuriy Yatsenko

Editor’s Note: Yuriy Yatsenko testified before the US Helsinki Commission in Washington on December 11, 2015. His remarks have been shortened. I am a Ukrainian citizen who was illegally arrested and detained by the Russian Federation for over a year for political reasons. Nadiya Savchenko, Oleg Sentsov, and others who are less known have suffered and […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jan 4, 2016

Putin’s Fragile Popularity

By Andreas Umland

One of the mantras of today’s Kremlin apologists, as well as of some self-described political realists, is that current Russian President Vladimir Putin is unusually popular among Russians. In the interest of pragmatism, they say, the West should acknowledge this allegedly hard fact and adapt its policies accordingly—i.e., try to rebuild a partnership with Russia’s […]

Russia

In the News

Jan 4, 2016

Dobriansky: Putin’s Anti-Obama Propaganda is Ugly and Desperate

By Paula Dobriansky

Atlantic Council Board Director Paula J. Dobriansky cowrites for the Washington Post on the anti-Obama rhetoric by Russian government officials and how it differs from Soviet-era anti-American propaganda:

Russia

UkraineAlert

Jan 4, 2016

What Will 2016 Mean for Ukraine?

By Aaron Korewa

In 2015, Ukraine proved it wasn’t a pushover. The country united in the face of Russian aggression and Russian President Vladimir Putin learned that if he wanted his Novorossiya project, it was going to cost him more than a few little green men. Notably, the war in Ukraine was completely absent from Putin’s December 2015 […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jan 4, 2016

New Russian Management of the Donbas Signifies Putin May Be Ready to Negotiate

By Anders Åslund

On December 26, Russian President Vladimir Putin appointed one of his close, trusted aides, Boris Gryzlov, Russia’s representative in the Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine, which concluded the two Minsk agreements on the Donbas in September 2014 and February 2015. This appointment suggests an important change in Russia’s policy toward Ukraine. Gryzlov is a heavyweight […]

Russia Ukraine

In the News

Jan 1, 2016

Aslund on the Gazprom Baltic Sea Pipeline

By Anders Aslund

The Washington Post quotes Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center Resident Senior Fellow Anders Aslund on how the Gazprom Baltic Sea pipeline is a direct implementation of Russia’s geopolitical and economic goals in the region:

Energy & Environment Russia

In the News

Dec 31, 2015

Alami: Can FSA Get Back on its Feet after Russian Intervention?

By Mona Alami

Rafik Hariri Center Nonresident Fellow Mona Alami writes for Al Monitor on how the Free Syrian Army is coping with its combat efforts after increased military intervention from Russian forces:

Russia Syria

In the News

Dec 24, 2015

Gramer: The New Thorn in Russia’s Side

By Robbie Gramer

Transatlantic Security Initiative Associate Director Robbie Gramer writes for Foreign Affairs on Montenegro’s recent joining of NATO and how that may affect NATO’s larger relation to Russia:

NATO Russia

New Atlanticist

Dec 23, 2015

These Are a Few of Our Favorite…Blog Posts of 2015

Here are some of the Atlantic Council’s most popular blog posts of 2015.

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Experts