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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.

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.

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May 28, 2015

Hiding in Plain Sight: Putin’s War in Ukraine and Boris Nemtsov’s Putin. War.

Russia is at war with Ukraine. The war’s toll—more than 6,000 dead, tens of thousands wounded, and nearly 1.3 million displaced persons—is the direct result of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s efforts to establish control over Ukraine. Putin continues to deny Russia’s military involvement, though the evidence that the Kremlin is directing the war is overwhelming. […]

Russia Ukraine
General Petr Pavel, Sept. 10, 2014

NATOSource

May 28, 2015

Russia Able to Occupy Baltic Republics in Two Days, Czech General

By CTK

Russia would be able to occupy the Baltic countries in two days, a period during which NATO would not be capable of reacting adequately, Czech general Petr Pavel

Central Europe NATO

UkraineAlert

May 28, 2015

Russia’s Secret Funerals

By Melinda Haring

Sgt. Leonid Kichatkin of the Russian 76th Airborne Division and Russian soldier Anton Tumanov died in August 2014 while fighting in eastern Ukraine. Their deaths amply demonstrate that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s claim that there are no Russian troops in Ukraine is false.

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 27, 2015

Putin Celebrates Stalinism. Again.

By Stephen Blank

Russian President Vladimir Putin on May 10 once again justified the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact as a statesmanlike act of defending Russia’s national interests. This time Putin did so with German Chancellor Angela Merkel next to him. The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact—the 1939 deal that split Eastern Europe between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany—was a death warrant for […]

Russia Ukraine
Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and President Barack Obama, May 26, 2015

NATOSource

May 26, 2015

Obama and NATO Chief Discuss Russia’s ‘Increasingly Aggressive Posture’

By Barack Obama and Jens Stoltenberg, White House

President Barack Obama:  this is a challenging and important time for NATO, and we are very lucky to have General Secretary Stoltenberg at the helm during this time.

NATO Russia

EconoGraphics

May 26, 2015

Who Will Finance Ukraine?

By Global Business & Economics Program

Ukraine's economic stability is uncertain as the conflict with Russia endures. Alongside the negative impacts to growth, exports, and investment, the level of Ukraine's debts are especially worrisome.

Economy & Business Europe & Eurasia

UkraineAlert

May 26, 2015

Ukraine Is Still Caught between a Hammer and an Anvil

By Alexander J. Motyl

For most of the 20th century, Ukraine was the victim of two equally malevolent empires—Germany and Russia. Germany’s contribution to Ukraine’s devastation was the two World Wars; Russia’s was the imposition of Soviet rule and the concomitant destruction of Ukraine’s peasantry and elites. Unsurprisingly, one of the most constant images in 20th-century Ukrainian commentary is […]

Germany Russia

In the News

May 26, 2015

Wilson on NATO and Russian Military Exercises

By Damon Wilson

Executive Vice President Damon Wilson joins CNN’s Situation Room to discuss the competing NATO and Russian military exercises and NATO’s lack of defensive planning against Russia:

NATO Russia

UkraineAlert

May 26, 2015

Kremlin Lays Hands on Faith in Crimea

By Geraldine Fagan

In Russia this April, a Baptist pastor was jailed for professing his faith. Pavel Pilipchuk’s five-day detention was brief, but excessive. It followed his refusal to pay a heavy fine for organizing street evangelism in the city of Oryol, around 200 miles south of Moscow. By not informing city officials of his plans, a local […]

Russia Ukraine
Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and Finnish Prime Minister Alexander Stubb, March 5, 2015

NATOSource

May 25, 2015

New Finnish Government Raises NATO Stakes

By Gerard O'Dwyer, Defense News

In a move that is certain to further irritate Moscow, Finland’s new center-right coalition has included the option of applying for NATO membership “at any time” in its government formation Joint Policy Position statement.

NATO Northern Europe

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