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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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US F-16s participating in Baltic exercise, June 13, 2014

NATOSource

Nov 20, 2014

NATO Scrambles Jets 400 Times in 2014 as Russian Air Activity Jumps

By David Mardiste and Jonathan Saul, Reuters

NATO warplanes have had to scramble 400 times this year in response to an increase in Russian air activity around Europe not seen since the Cold War, the alliance’s chief said on Thursday.

NATO Northern Europe

In the News

Nov 20, 2014

Herbst on Russia’s “Invasion” into Ukraine

By John Herbst

The Philadelphia Inquirer quotes Eurasia Center Director John Herbst on whether Russian aggression toward Ukraine can be called an “invasion”:

Russia Ukraine
1986 DIA artwork of Soviet anti-satellite weapon

NATOSource

Nov 19, 2014

Object 2014-28E – Space Junk or Russian Satellite Killer?

By Sam Jones, Financial Times

It is a tale that could have come from the cold war. A mysterious object launched by the Russian military is being tracked by western space agencies, stoking fears over the revival of a defunct Kremlin project to destroy satellites.

China Russia
Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, June 6, 2007

NATOSource

Nov 18, 2014

Merkel Issues Rebuke to Russia, Setting Caution Aside

By New York Times and Deutsche Welle

From Alison Smale, New York Times:  Tit-for-tat expulsions of diplomats. Russian naval ships showing up as world leaders meet in Australia. Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany telling Russia sternly to play by 21st-century rules

Australia European Union
Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, November 18, 2014

NATOSource

Nov 18, 2014

NATO Secretary General: Multiple Sources Confirm Russia’s Military Build-Up in Ukraine

By Jens Stoltenberg, NATO

It is a military build-up. The picture we have confirms the picture which is also provided by other sources. By open sources, by independent reporters and by the OSCE.

NATO Russia

UkraineAlert

Nov 18, 2014

Russians’ Once-Secretive Commander in Ukraine is On the Air

By Irena Chalupa

Colonel Igor Girkin Presses Kremlin to Expand Its War Through Southern and Eastern Ukraine “The Shooter” is back. Colonel Igor Girkin, the career Russian intelligence officer who disappeared three months ago from his leading role in the Russian-sponsored war against Ukraine, has burst anew into Russia’s news headlines. He has given a spate of interviews […]

Eastern Europe Russia

Defense Industrialist

Nov 18, 2014

Third Offset Strategy, Second Adversary

By James Hasik, Alex Ward

  What worked on the Soviets may not work on the Chinese.   Chuck Hagel’s speech at the Reagan National Defense Forum this past weekend may have been one of the most important by an American defense secretary in recent years. His new ‘Defense Innovation Initiative’ seems neither a DARPA program writ large nor a […]

China NATO
Russian Su-34 Fullback fighter bomber off the coast of Norway in late October

NATOSource

Nov 17, 2014

Putin Targets the Scandinavians

By Andrew A. Michta, American Interest

Throughout 2014, an unprecedented number of air space violations and incidents have required NATO Baltic Air Policing to scramble jets in response.

NATO NATO Partnerships
Russian embassy in Warsaw

NATOSource

Nov 17, 2014

Poles, Russians Expel Diplomats Over Spying

By Vanessa Gera, AP

Russian and Polish officials confirmed Monday that they have carried out tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsions in an espionage affair that highlights intensified efforts by Moscow to penetrate NATO counties

Intelligence NATO
Pro-Russian armor in Donetsk, Oct. 25, 2014

NATOSource

Nov 14, 2014

Russian Tanks in Ukraine, but US Won’t Say ‘Invasion’

By Kirit Radia, ABC News

Thousands of Russian troops have crossed into eastern Ukraine in recent days, along with columns of tanks, artillery and air-defense systems, according to NATO’s top commander.

NATO Russia

Experts