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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.

Content

Russian President Vladimir Putin, Sept. 6, 2014

NATOSource

Sep 18, 2014

Putin: Russian Troops could be in Vilnius, Warsaw, and Bucharest in Two Days

By Delfi and BBC

From Delfi:  In a meeting with Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko, Vladimir Putin allegedly threatened that, if he wanted, the Russian army could occupy Poland and the Baltic states in two days.

Central Europe NATO

In the News

Sep 17, 2014

Karatnycky: Obama Can’t Admit That Romney Was Right on Russia

By Adrian Karatnycky

Transatlantic Relations Program Nonresident Senior Fellow Adrian Karatnycky writes for the New Republic on President Obama’s comments that what happens in Ukraine does not pose a direct threat to the United States:

Russia Ukraine

Article

Sep 17, 2014

Europe’s Changing Borders

By Ioan Mircea Pascu

In defiance of international law and established rules of behavior, President Vladimir Putin’s Russia illegally annexed Crimea by force last spring and is vigorously destabilizing eastern Ukraine with a combination of military and nonmilitary means now called by specialists a “hybrid war.”

NATO Russia
Unidentified gunmen at Simferopol International Airport, Feb. 28, 2014

NATOSource

Sep 17, 2014

Top NATO Commander Concerned About ‘Little Green Men’ in Moldova

By Reuters and INFOTAG

From David Alexander, Reuters:  NATO’s top military commander said on Monday that Russia appeared to be following some of the same “hybrid warfare” script in dealing with the former Soviet republic of Moldova that it used before annexing Crimea and intervening in eastern Ukraine.

Moldova NATO

Commanders Series

Sep 17, 2014

Breedlove: NATO Has Begun Shaping Rapid Response Force

Alliance’s Commander Says New Force Will Include US Troops NATO has begun shaping the strengthened presence in Eastern Europe that the Alliance’s leaders approved ten days ago at their summit conference in Wales, its military commander, US Air Force General Philip Breedlove, said. US troops will be part of the new rapid-response force to be […]

NATO Russia
Little Green Men in Ukraine and ISIL fighters hoisting flag

NATOSource

Sep 16, 2014

The Dual Threats to Western Values

By Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Wall Street Journal

The abhorrent beheading of two American journalists and a British aid worker shocked the world. So did the tragic downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine.

Iraq NATO
Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, President Barack Obama, and Prime Minister David Cameron

NATOSource

Sep 15, 2014

5 Ways for NATO, US to support Ukraine

By Jan Lodal, Washington Post

The Ukrainian military is capable of defending this line if it is given adequate NATO support, led by the United States. Five packages are needed:

NATO Russia

UkraineAlert

Sep 15, 2014

Can Ukraine’s Parliament Election Bring Moderate Voices From Embattled East?

Could Ukraine’s parliamentary elections in six weeks produce representatives from eastern Ukraine who might provide a clear alternative voice for that region, distinct from those of the thuggish, Kremlin-sponsored “people’s republics?” If so, that could offer President Petro Poroshenko a set of credible, more moderate interlocutors to bring into negotiations to come over the east’s […]

Elections Politics & Diplomacy

UkraineAlert

Sep 15, 2014

Ukraine’s President Seeks Urgent US Help to Defend against Russian Aggression

By John E. Herbst

Petro Poroshenko Will Ask Congress’ Support in Getting US Weapons President Petro Poroshenko arrives in Washington this week at the most perilous moment in the history of independent Ukraine. After the Kremlin’s months of attacking Ukraine with its proxy militias, it directly invaded southeast Ukraine last month with thousands of regular Russian army troops, thus […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Sep 11, 2014

Mariupol: Russia’s Next Target in Ukraine War?

A Strategic City Prepares Its Defense; But if Truce Fails, Its Fate Will be Uncertain Amid the war between Russia and Ukraine, no city is watching the viability of the fragile cease-fire with more apprehension than Ukraine’s second-largest seaport, Mariupol. That is because the city, home to steel mills and, normally, a half-million residents, will […]

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Experts

Events