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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.

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Estonian Defence League mortar platoon, Oct. 30, 2013

NATOSource

May 18, 2015

Paramilitary Groups Surge in Popularity in Eastern Europe

By Felicity Capon, Newsweek

Thousands of ordinary civilians, including doctors, carpenters and teachers, are flocking to join volunteer paramilitary groups in several European countries, with some doubling in size since the start of the Ukraine crisis, Newsweek has discovered.

NATO Northern Europe

In the News

May 15, 2015

Varangis on Russia’s Plan to Develop a New Aircraft Carrier

By Nicholas Varangis

Business Insider quotes the Transatlantic Security Initiative’s Nicholas Varangis on Russia’s investment in a new aircraft carrier:

Russia

In the News

May 15, 2015

Pavel and Nordenman: Restoring Order: Deterrence in Europe in the 21st Century

By Pavel and Nordenman

VP and Brent Scowcroft Center Director Barry Pavel and Brent Scowcroft Center Deputy Director Magnus Nordenman write for the German Marshall Fund on why NATO needs to develop a renewed deterrence strategy as a result of Russia’s aggressive policies:

NATO Russia

In the News

May 14, 2015

Nordenman: Why the Chinese Navy is in the Mediterranean

By Magnus Nordenman

Brent Scowcroft Center Deputy Director Magnus Nordenman writes for USNI News on the Chinese-Russian naval exercises in the Mediterranean:

China Russia
German Leopard tanks, Aug. 17, 2010

NATOSource

May 14, 2015

Poland Considering Formal Request for Permanent NATO Bases

By Wiktor Szary, Reuters

Poland and the Baltic states said on Thursday they were seeking permanent NATO deployments on their soil to counter increased Russian military activity, and a Polish internal document suggested the matter may be raised at a Warsaw summit next year.

NATO Poland
Estonian army scouts participating in SIIL/Steadfast Javelin Exercise, May 11, 2015

NATOSource

May 14, 2015

Baltic Military Chiefs to Call for Permanent NATO Presence

By Andrius Sytas and David Mardiste, Reuters

Baltic states Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia will seek a permanent presence of NATO troops on their territory to counter increased Russian air and naval activity, the Lithuanian army said on Thursday.

NATO Northern Europe
SACEUR Gen. Philip Breedlove, June 30, 2014

NATOSource

May 13, 2015

NATO Says Russia’s Nuclear Rhetoric Irresponsible

By Alex Barker, Financial Times

Russia is irresponsibly stepping up its nuclear rhetoric in a bid to rattle the west, Nato’s military chief has said, underlining the alliance’s concern about Russian threats to deploy nuclear weapons in Crimea.

NATO Nuclear Nonproliferation

UkraineAlert

May 13, 2015

Imposing Costs on Putin Will Deter War

By John E. Herbst

“Russia and America: Stumbling to War,” a recent National Interest article by Graham Allison and Dimitri Simes, commands attention because of the gravity of the issue and the stature of its authors. Allison is a leading authority on great power relations, and Dimitri Simes is a scholar with deep connections to the elites running Russia.

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 13, 2015

Crimean Tatars: ‘We did not reject Russia, Russia rejected us’

By Catherine Cosman

On May 18, 1944, Joseph Stalin deported more than 180,000 Crimean Tatars to Uzbekistan. Once again this community faces major challenges. Today, 230,000 Crimean Tatars, who are mainly Sunni Muslims, represent about 12 percent of Crimea’s population. Virtually all of Crimea’s Tatars opposed Russia’s annexation of Crimea in March 2014 and refused to vote in […]

Russia Ukraine
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, Oct. 9, 2014

NATOSource

May 13, 2015

Turkey Condemns Russia’s Actions in Ukraine and Georgia

By AFP

Turkey on Tuesday said nothing can justify Russia’s actions in Ukraine and other ex-Soviet states, in a rare strong criticism of its increasingly close ally ahead of a NATO meeting.

NATO Russia

Experts