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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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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

UkraineAlert

May 12, 2015

Russia Has Complete Information Dominance in Ukraine

By James J. Coyle

Hackers have consistently used low-level cyber warfare tactics to advance Russian goals in Ukraine. A dedicated group of hackers successfully infected the e-mail systems of the Ukrainian military, counterintelligence, border patrol, and local police. The hackers use a spear-phishing attack in which malware is hidden in an attachment that appears to be an official Ukrainian […]

Russia Ukraine
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, May. 11, 2015

NATOSource

May 11, 2015

Foreign Ministers to Address Growing Turmoil Along NATO’s Borders

By Jens Stoltenberg, NATO

We will keep NATO strong and we will help keep our neighborhood stable. Because if our neighborhood is stable we will be more secure.

NATO NATO Partnerships
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Dec. 1, 2014

NATOSource

May 11, 2015

NATO Kicks Out Russian Spies but Revives Kremlin Hotline Amid Ukraine Tensions

By Ian Traynor, Guardian

The western military alliance is reviving cold war-style hotlines to the Kremlin and the Russian general staff in Moscow to reduce the chances of escalating military confrontation and miscalculation as the Ukraine conflict fuels east-west tension.

Intelligence NATO

Experts