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

New Atlanticist

Jun 5, 2015

Ukraine’s Success Will Have ‘Huge Implications’ for Entire Region

EU official: ‘Russia recognizes that we are not looking to gain territories’ Describing Ukraine as an “international issue,” a top European Union official said June 4 that turning the country into a success story will have “huge implications for the whole region.” “Russia recognizes we are not looking to gain territories. We are looking to […]

Europe & Eurasia European Union

In the News

Jun 4, 2015

Philly Inquirer Features Atlantic Council Report Hiding in Plain Sight

By John Herbst

Philly Inquirer Opinion Columnist Trudy Rubin quotes Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center Director John Herbst and uses the Atlantic Council’s recent report, Hiding in Plain Sight, to make the case for further action on behalf of the United States and the European Union in the conflict in Ukraine: 

Russia Ukraine
Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Feb. 5, 2015

NATOSource

Jun 4, 2015

NATO Chief Slams Russia Amid Upsurge in Ukraine Conflict

By Reuters

NATO said on Thursday Russia was delivering sophisticated weaponry to rebels in eastern Ukraine,

NATO Northern Europe

UkraineAlert

Jun 4, 2015

Father of Recovering Kremlin Critic Vladimir Kara-Murza Says His Son Was Poisoned

By Melinda Haring

Vladimir Kara-Murza has regained consciousness in a Moscow hospital after falling gravely ill on May 26, and the Russian opposition leader’s father now says his son was poisoned.

Russia Ukraine
New Finnish government plans to study possibility of NATO membership

NATOSource

Jun 3, 2015

Finland’s Exploration of NATO Membership: The Benefits of Joining the Alliance

By Mark Seip

Last week, Finland’s new government announced that they will explore the possibility of NATO membership.

NATO NATO Partnerships

UkraineAlert

Jun 3, 2015

Mutual Deterrence? Think Again. Russia Seeks to Intimidate the West

By Stephen Blank

Moscow recently announced that it will procure fifty new nuclear-capable bombers, the Tupolev TU-160 or Blackjacks, which are the world’s largest combat aircraft. This seemingly anodyne announcement points to a critically important element of Russian strategy that we overlook at our and our allies’ peril. The procurement is the latest in a continuing series of […]

Russia Ukraine
"Little green men" after seizing military base in Crimea, March 9, 2014

NATOSource

Jun 2, 2015

Post Crimea Europe: NATO In the Age of Limited Wars

By Jakub Grygiel, Wess Mitchell, and Octavian Manea, Small Wars Journal

Octavian Manea: In a Europe where the use of limited war becomes more and more a tool of choice, are the decisions taken in Wales – like the creation of super-rapid reaction force – appropriate to reassure the Eastern Flank?

NATO Russia

UkraineAlert

Jun 2, 2015

The Dangerous Game of Truth Telling in Ukraine

By Danielle Johnson

As commentary on Ukraine increasingly focuses on the next Russian offensive and ways to end the war, now is the time to consider how to rebuild a unified country. Any attempt to move past the violence and establish a stable basis for reform must involve a frank discussion of the past. A truth commission is […]

Russia Ukraine

In the News

Jun 2, 2015

Mefford on Odessa’s New Governor

By Brian Mefford

BBC quotes Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center Nonresident Senior Fellow Brian Mefford on former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili’s appointment as Odessa’s new governor: 

Russia Ukraine

Defense Industrialist

Jun 2, 2015

Weapons of the Weak

By Blake Franko

Why Russia Focuses on Electronic and Drone Warfare Russia’s war in Ukraine has brought into question the very notion of NATO’s Article 5, as concerns grow that Estonia might lie next in the Kremlin’s attention. Russia’s posturing in Ukraine, however, should be seen as that of a weaker power trying to avoid confrontation with a […]

Russia Ukraine

Experts