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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.

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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

Popular support for Sweden joining NATO is growing

NATOSource

Sep 17, 2015

New Swedish Poll Shows Sharp Increase in Support for NATO Membership

By Defense News and Deutsche Welle

From Gerard O’Dwyer, Defense News:  A landmark poll in Sweden reveals a massive shift in public opinion that favors the non-aligned Nordic state joining NATO.

NATO Northern Europe

In the News

Sep 17, 2015

Itani on a US Response to Russia in Syria

By Faysal Itani

Middle East Eye quotes Rafik Hariri Center Resident Fellow Faysal Itani on Moscow’s recent moves in Syria and Washington’s possible responses:

Russia Syria
Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallström, May 31, 2015

NATOSource

Sep 17, 2015

Swedish Minister Slams Russian ‘Threats’ About NATO Membership

By Local (Sweden)

Foreign Minister Margot Wallström said relations between Sweden and Russia are “chillier than ever” after she met with the country’s ambassador in Stockholm to ask him to explain comments that the Nordic country would likely face military action if it were to join NATO.

NATO Northern Europe

In the News

Sep 17, 2015

Cohen: Power Projection: Who Will Win in Syria

By Ariel Cohen

Global Energy Center and Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center Nonresident Senior Fellow Ariel Cohen writes for Forbes Russia on Russian intervention in Syria: Read the full article here.

Russia Syria

In the News

Sep 17, 2015

Hof on Russian Support to Syria: “A Real Houston-We-Have-a-Problem Moment”

By Frederic C. Hof

Rafik Hariri Center Resident Senior Fellow Frederic C. Hof joins NPR’s All Things Considered to discuss the United States’ concerns over Russia’s aid to President Bashar al-Assad in Syria:

Russia Syria

New Atlanticist

Sep 16, 2015

Is a US-Russia Confrontation Over Syria in the Cards?

By Ashish Kumar Sen

The Obama administration will have to confront Russia and Iran—supporters of embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad—if it wants to win the war against the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), Frederic C. Hof, a Resident Senior Fellow in the Atlantic Council’s Rafik Hariri Center, said September 16. Russia’s recently ramped up military presence in […]

Iran Russia

In the News

Sep 16, 2015

Herbst on Russia’s Strategy in Ukraine and Syria

By John Herbst

USA Today quotes Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center Director John E. Herbst on Russia’s failure to implement the ceasefire in Ukraine and Putin’s military assistance for the Assad regime in Syria:

Russia Syria

UkraineAlert

Sep 16, 2015

How Putin Shot Himself in the Foot

By Aaron Korewa

Russian propaganda managed to surpass its own absurdity when the head of Russia’s Investigative Committee, Aleksandr Bastrykin, claimed that Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk fought alongside rebel forces in both Chechen wars. Yatsenyuk supposedly tortured and executed Russian soldiers there. This apparently took place in the mid-1990s when Yatsenyuk was a 20-year-old law student in […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Sep 16, 2015

How the West Can Stand Up to Putin

By Terrell Jermaine Starr

Winter is less than four months away, but Russian President Vladimir Putin is already freezing eastern Ukraine. No, I’m not talking about the possibility of Ukraine not being able to renegotiate lower gas prices this year. (That’s another issue entirely). The kind of freeze that Putin is plotting for Ukraine is political. For more than […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Sep 16, 2015

Ukraine After Euromaidan: What Difference Does a Revolution Make?

By Viktoriya Sereda

Many people claim that following the 2013-14 protests against former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, Russia’s annexation of Crimea and worsening violence in the Donbas, Ukrainian attitudes have significantly changed—mainly towards European integration, support for democracy and the fight against corruption. Our project—“Region, Nation, and Beyond: An Interdisciplinary and Transcultural Reconsideration of Ukraine”—attempts to verify those […]

Russia Ukraine

Experts