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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

Event Recap

Nov 21, 2014

No Easy Options for Europe’s Energy Security

By Eric Gehman

While Russian and European energy codependence is likely to continue for the foreseeable future, a raft of new projects will help Europe diversify its energy supply and security over the medium- and long-term, concluded experts at the opening panel of the Atlantic Council Energy and Economic Summit’s second day in Istanbul, Turkey. Led by Ambassador […]

Energy & Environment Energy Markets & Governance

UkraineAlert

Nov 21, 2014

Before Ukraine Can Be Reformed, It Must Be Defended

By Paul Goble

When Hitler Invaded Poland, No One Demanded Polish Reforms Before Offering Help. Why Is It the Reverse for Ukraine? “September 3, 1939 – British and French commentators and officials said today that it could no longer be denied that Hitler was invading Poland and that the Nazi forces represented the most serious threat to the […]

Eastern Europe Russia
Chinese Jiangkai II (Type 054A) Class Frigate

NATOSource

Nov 21, 2014

Russia and China Plan Joint Naval Exercise in the Mediterranean

By TASS

Defense ministries of Russia and China seek to form a regional collective security system in the Asia-Pacific region, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said on Tuesday

China Europe & Eurasia
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

Experts