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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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British Defense Minister Michael Fallon, Aug. 16, 2014

NATOSource

Feb 19, 2015

Putin Will Target Baltic Republics Next, UK Defense Minister Warns

By Ben Farmer, Telegraph

There is a “real and present danger” that Vladimir Putin will launch a campaign of undercover attacks to destabilise the Baltic states on Nato’s eastern flank, the Defence Secretary has warned.

NATO Northern Europe

Article

Feb 19, 2015

Winning the generational struggle with Putin

By Nicholas Burns

HE INVADED Crimea a year ago and then formally annexed it in a brazen, illegal act of aggression not seen in Europe since the Second World War. He sent thousands of Russian soldiers across the border to tilt the balance of Ukraine’s civil war in favor of pro-Moscow separatists and then refused to own up […]

Russia Ukraine

In the News

Feb 19, 2015

Karatnycky: Making the Most of Minsk

By Adrian Karatnycky

Transatlantic Relations Program Nonresident Senior Fellow Adrian Karatnycky writes for The New York Times on why the Minsk agreement is deeply flawed and what the West needs to do to respond to Putin’s strategy:

Russia Ukraine

In the News

Feb 18, 2015

Brzezinski on Russian Sanctions

By Ian Brzezinski

CNBC quotes Scowcroft Center Senior Fellow Ian Brzezinski on why the new Russian sanctions are simply symbolic: 

Russia

UkraineAlert

Feb 18, 2015

Amid the ‘Cease-Fire,’ Russian Forces Win a Battle in Ukraine

By New Atlanticist

Kyiv Forced into New Retreat; US, Europe Must Increase Support, Atlantic Council Analysts Say At midday February 18, three-and-a-half days beyond the designated hour for a cease-fire in eastern Ukraine, fighting was continuing in the strategic city of Debaltseve, where Russian forces continue to pound a nearly surrounded Ukrainian contingent that may still number in […]

Eastern Europe Russia

In the News

Feb 17, 2015

Karatnycky: “We’re Dealing with a Battle for the Heart and Soul of Russia”

By Adrian Karatnycky

The AP quotes Transatlantic Relations Program Nonresident Senior Fellow Adrian Karatnycky on the fighting in Debaltseve and why the fight in Ukraine demonstrates a change in Russian values:

Russia Ukraine
Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen and British Prime Minister David Cameron, Sept. 4, 2014

NATOSource

Feb 17, 2015

David Cameron Will Encourage Britain’s Enemies If He Cuts Defense Spending, Warn Former NATO Chiefs

By Ben Riley-Smith, Telegraph

David Cameron will embolden Vladimir Putin and Islamic terrorists if he reneges on a commitment to spend two per cent of GDP on defence, two former Nato heads have warned.

NATO Russia
The leaders of Belarus, Russia, Germany, France, and Ukraine, Feb. 11, 2015

NATOSource

Feb 14, 2015

Stephen Walt Makes the Case for Appeasing Russia

By Stephen Walt, Foreign Policy

Those who favor arming Ukraine are also applying “deterrence model” remedies to what is almost certainly a “spiral model” situation.

NATO Russia

In the News

Feb 13, 2015

Herbst on Russian Popular Opinion

By John Herbst

The Star Tribune quotes Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center Director John Herbst on Russian popular opinion of Putin and the conflict in Ukraine:

Russia Ukraine

In the News

Feb 13, 2015

Dobriansky: Russia Should Be Prosecuted for its Crimes Against Humanity

Paula J. Dobriansky, who served as Undersecretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs from 2001 to 2009 and is an Atlantic Council Board member, writes in The Washington Post that the International Criminal Court must investigate Russia’s violations in Ukraine: “Russia’s grave violations of international humanitarian norms, especially the law of armed conflict, should […]

Russia Ukraine

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