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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.

Content

UkraineAlert

Dec 16, 2014

President Obama Will Sign Congress’ Bill to Aid Ukraine: Here’s Why

By James Rupert

‘Freedom Support Act’ Authorizes, But Does Not Require, Arms Sales to Ukraine In passing its bill to boost US support for Ukraine last week, Congress left President Barack Obama largely free to decide how and when to apply its provisions – and that flexibility is one reason Obama has chosen to sign the act, even […]

Eastern Europe Russia
Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Dec. 1 2014

NATOSource

Dec 15, 2014

NATO Says Russian Air Force Jets Posing Risk to Aviation in Baltic

By Reuters

NATO accused Russia of posing a danger to civil aviation in the Baltic region after Stockholm protested over a Russian air force jet it said had flown too close to an airliner and had turned off one of its location instruments.

NATO Northern Europe

New Atlanticist

Dec 15, 2014

Moldova at a Tipping Point: Four Ways the US Should Help

By Damon Wilson

Small Steps for a Small Country Could Strengthen Europe Against Russia’s Assaults In the shadow of Ukraine’s war for true independence from Russia, the small country of Moldova is entering a critical chapter of its parallel struggle. Frustrated Moldovan voters last month reelected their pro-democratic government, but also delivered a warning that concrete economic and […]

Eastern Europe Europe & Eurasia
Arctic Sea Ice

NATOSource

Dec 15, 2014

Denmark Claims North Pole

By Jan M. Olsen, AP

Scientific data shows Greenland’s continental shelf is connected to a ridge beneath the Arctic Ocean, giving Danes a claim to the North Pole and any potential energy resources beneath it, Denmark’s foreign minister said.

Energy & Environment Energy Markets & Governance
Russian intelligence aircraft Ilyushin Il-20M

NATOSource

Dec 15, 2014

Scandinavians Warn Russia After Air Near-Miss

By Richard Milne, Financial Times

Russia’s ambassadors to Denmark and Sweden have been summoned to hear complaints that lives were endangered in a near-miss involving an airliner and a Russian military aircraft.

NATO Northern Europe
Former SACEUR, Adm. James Stavridis, Nov. 14, 2014

NATOSource

Dec 12, 2014

Former Commander Urges NATO to Send Arms to Ukraine

By Julian Borger, Guardian

A former commander of Nato in Europe has called for the alliance to send arms and military advisers to Ukraine to help it fight Moscow-backed separatists.

NATO Russia
Defense ministers of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland, Dec. 12, 2014

NATOSource

Dec 12, 2014

Baltic and Polish Defense Ministers Agree on Joint Response to Deter Russia

By Latvian Ministry of Defense

On 11–12 December the Baltic and Polish Defence Ministers at a meeting in in Cesis (Latvia) agreed on joint response to deter Russia in the region.

NATO Northern Europe
Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Brian P. McKeon

NATOSource

Dec 11, 2014

Pentagon Planning Military Counter to Russia’s Treaty-Prohibited Cruise Missiles

By Sgt. 1st Class Tyrone C. Marshall Jr., DoD News

Russian violation of an arms control agreement poses a threat to U.S. and its allies’ security interests, leading the Joint Staff to conduct a military assessment of its threat, a senior defense official said here today.

Russia United States and Canada

New Atlanticist

Dec 11, 2014

Isolated from the West, President Putin Visits India

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Atlantic Council’s Bharath Gopalaswamy: ‘Russia is keen to demonstrate that it has friends in other parts of the world’ The meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on December 11 sought to re-energize a relationship between two nations which had its peak during the Cold War.

India Russia
Polish Defense Minister Tomasz Siemoniak with members of the Warsaw Armored Brigade, Oct. 10, 2014

NATOSource

Dec 11, 2014

Polish Defense Minister Concerned About ‘Unprecedented’ Level of Russian Military Activity This Week

By BBC

Poland says the level of Russian naval and air force activity in the Baltic Sea region has been “unprecedented” this week.

NATO Poland

Experts