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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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Finnish Prime Minister Alexander Stubb, Oct. 27, 2008

NATOSource

Sep 29, 2014

Prime Minister Stubb: Finland Should have Joined NATO in 1995

By Spiegel

SPIEGEL: Mr. Stubb, Moscow is following with great concern just how sympathetic you are to the idea of Finland joining NATO.

NATO NATO Partnerships

UkraineAlert

Sep 29, 2014

As Winter Nears in Ukraine, Will Moscow Attempt Another Strategic Invasion?

By James Rupert

Continued Attacks Show Kremlin May Be Preparing Drive Toward Crimea, Analysts Say Distracted US and European policymakers may feel grateful that this month’s truce has slowed the Russia-Ukraine war. The Obama administration is seized with the Syria-Iraq crisis and Congress has gone home to campaign for the November 4 election. Europe faces an internal battle […]

Russia Ukraine
Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, September 4, 2014

NATOSource

Sep 26, 2014

Outgoing NATO Chief: Russia Considers Us an Adversary

By David Jackson, USA TODAY

The retiring secretary general of NATO says he is leaving behind a more efficient fighting organization that will have to deal with an increasingly aggressive Russia.

International Organizations NATO
A Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker and an RAF Typhoon fighter jet, June 17, 2014

NATOSource

Sep 25, 2014

Russian Air Incursions Rattle Baltic States

By Richard Milne, Sam Jones, and Kathrin Hille, Financial Times

The Baltic countries are registering a dramatic increase in Russian military provocations, rattling nerves in a region which fears it could be the next frontier after Ukraine in Moscow’s quest at asserting its regional power.

NATO Northern Europe

UkraineAlert

Sep 25, 2014

Ukraine’s Parliamentary Election: Poroshenko Leads Big at Campaign’s Start

By James Rupert

Early Voter Surveys Reflect Anti-Russian, Pro-Independence Mood Ukrainians will elect a new parliament in exactly thirty days, completing the electoral portion of the political revolution triggered by last winter’s Maidan movement. As the campaign began in recent weeks, two Ukrainian polling organizations conducted surveys that yielded similar numbers on the early mindset of Ukraine’s electorate. […]

Elections Politics & Diplomacy
Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė

NATOSource

Sep 25, 2014

Lithuania’s President: ‘Russia is Terrorizing Its Neighbors’

By Lally Weymouth, Washington Post

Excerpts from interview of Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite by Lally Weymouth of the Washington Post.

Moldova NATO

UkraineAlert

Sep 25, 2014

A Dangerous October: Ukraine Contests an Election As It Fears a Truce

By John E. Herbst

Kyiv Feels Little Supported by the West, Hopes to Survive an Unequal Ceasefire With Russia KYIVA junction of war and politics dominates public life in Ukraine as autumn settles firmly in Kyiv. An unequal cease-fire this month in southeast Ukraine will let Moscow maintain there a core of the invasion force it sent in last […]

Elections Politics & Diplomacy
Report: Russian soldiers at Perevalne military base, Crimea, March 9, 2014

NATOSource

Sep 24, 2014

NATO Sees Significant Pullback of Russian Troops from Ukraine

By Adrian Croft, Reuters

NATO has observed a significant withdrawal of Russian forces from inside Ukraine, but many Russian troops remain stationed nearby, an alliance military spokesman said on Wednesday.

NATO Russia

MENASource

Sep 24, 2014

Air Strikes in Syria: One Hand Clapping

By Frederic C. Hof

The decision of the Obama administration to strike Islamic State targets (as well as some associated with another al-Qaeda derivative) in Syria is laudable. The participation of multiple Arab partners is commendable: the fight against this vacuum-filling band of murderers, torturers, and thieves is, in its essence, an Arab fight against pagan barbarism.

Iran Russia
Russian S-300V SAM and Tor-M1 in 2008

NATOSource

Sep 23, 2014

NATO Airspace ‘Contested’ by Long Range Russian Missiles

By Sydney J. Freedberg, Jr., Breaking Defense

The alliance was looking at this training issue even before Vladimir Putin’s “little green men” took over Crimea.

NATO Northern Europe

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