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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.

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Slovakia, Hungary, and the Czech Republic have committed to participate in the post-2014 mission in Afghanistan

NATOSource

Aug 8, 2014

Special Summit Series: Slovakia, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and NATO

By Simona Kordosova

With NATO approaching its September summit in Wales, the time has come for Slovakia, Hungary, and the Czech Republic to join Poland in its efforts to bolster regional security and shape the future of the Visegrad countries’ eastern periphery.

Afghanistan Central Europe
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Aug. 6, 2014

NATOSource

Aug 7, 2014

Rasmussen: NATO’s Support for Ukraine is ‘Unwavering’

By Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO

My message is very clear: NATO’s support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine is unwavering.

NATO NATO Partnerships

UkraineAlert

Aug 7, 2014

Putin Will Decide Captured Ukrainian Pilot’s Fate, Her Lawyer Says

By Irena Chalupa

Nadiya Savchenko’s Trial is Political, Not Legal, Says Human Rights Attorney Mark Feygin Although a Russian court is preparing to try Ukrainian military pilot Nadiya Savchenko on war-related charges, it is Russian President Vladimir Putin who will decide her fate, said Savchenko’s defense attorney, Russian human rights lawyer Mark Feygin.

Russia Ukraine

In the News

Aug 7, 2014

Slavin on Russia-Iran Relations

By Barbara Slavin

Natural Gas Daily quotes South Asia Center Nonresident Senior Fellow Barbara Slavin on how Russia’s relationship with Iran may affect affect nuclear negotiations with the P5+1 countries:

Iran Russia

UkraineAlert

Aug 7, 2014

Kremlin Silences Crimea’s Last Pro-Ukraine TV Station

By Irena Chalupa

Shutdown Virtually Completes Muffling of Crimean Media On August 1, police in Crimea entered the headquarters of the Chornomorska Television Company to shut it down, virtually completing Russia’s silencing of all Ukrainian and independent media on the peninsula five months after its invasion. The Moscow-backed authorities had already halted other Ukrainian broadcasts and have progressively been constricting Chornomorska […]

Russia Ukraine
US Rangers boarding MH-47 helicopter, May 31, 2014

NATOSource

Aug 7, 2014

Pentagon May Review Force Levels in Europe, Senior Official Says

By Andrew Tilghman, Military Times

If tensions between Russia and the West continue to mount, the Pentagon this fall may launch a far-reaching review of the U.S. military’s footprint in Europe, the Defense Department’s number two official said.

Europe & Eurasia NATO

In the News

Aug 7, 2014

Benitez on Russian Troop Buildup Near Ukraine

By Jorge Benitez

NATOSource Director and Brent Scowcroft Center Senior Fellow Jorge Benitez joins CCTV to discuss the buildup of Russian troops near Ukraine and the visit of NATO Secretary General Rasmussen to Kyiv:

Russia Ukraine
Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel in Stuttgart, Aug. 6, 2014

NATOSource

Aug 7, 2014

Hagel: Growing Threat of Russia Invading Ukraine

By Lolita Baldor, AP

Russia’s troop buildup on the Ukrainian border increases the threat of an invasion by President Vladimir Putin’s army, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Wednesday.

NATO Russia

New Atlanticist

Aug 7, 2014

As Putin Weighs Invading Ukraine, the West Must Tell Him How it Would Respond

By John E. Herbst

Two months of steady advance by Ukrainian security forces have brought the war in Ukraine’s southeast to a crucial point at which Russian President Vladimir Putin must decide whether to launch a conventional invasion. The next four weeks, before NATO’s annual summit conference, are a critical window for action by Ukraine and its Western allies […]

Russia Ukraine
The Presidents of the three Baltic States, Nov. 6, 2013

NATOSource

Aug 6, 2014

Which Members Oppose Greater NATO Military Presence in Eastern Allies?

By Editors of the Financial Times

The obvious answer is for Nato to bolster its military presence in the east, thereby signalling to Moscow that an attack there would indeed be treated as an attack on the whole alliance.

Italy NATO

Experts