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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 Strikers arrive in Vilnius for Saber Strike exercise, June 7, 2014

NATOSource

Jun 13, 2014

NATO Bases in Eastern Allies will Help Deter Further Russian Aggression

By Franklin D. Kramer and Hans Binnendijk, The Hill

In dealing with Russia, the U.S., together with its allies, must enhance deterrence, reduce strategic economic dependency, and retain diplomatic cooperation when interests coincide.

NATO Russia

New Atlanticist

Jun 13, 2014

Russia’s Unmarked Tanks in Ukraine: Putin is Probing the West’s Resolve

By New Atlanticist

Atlantic Council’s John Herbst: US, European Response Will Be Critical On June 12, unmarked tanks and another armored vehicle — bearing no unit markings or other identification, beyond a Russian flag — drove from Russia into southeastern Ukraine, according to the Ukrainian government and independent news reports. John Herbst, the director of the Atlantic Council’s […]

Russia Ukraine

New Atlanticist

Jun 13, 2014

A Ukrainian Filmmaker in Prison for Opposing Russia’s Occupation of Crimea

By Irene Chalupa

Oleg Sentsov Waved Ukrainian Flags, Now is in Moscow’s Former KGB Prison Ukrainian film director Oleg Sentsov, a native of Crimea, won wide acclaim a couple of years back with a sensitive docu-drama about a teenager caught between his success in the virtual world of video games and his struggle in the real world around […]

Russia Ukraine
(At the time) Ambassador Susan Rice, October 12, 2012

NATOSource

Jun 13, 2014

US Calls for Europe to ‘Take Defense Spending Seriously’

By Susan Rice, White House

Collective action has long been the hallmark of effective American leadership. The United Nations, NATO and our Asian alliances were all built on the foundation of American strength and American values.

Europe & Eurasia NATO

In the News

Jun 13, 2014

Tothova Jordan: NATO’s Collective Defense in Times of Cyber Threats

By Klara Tothova Jordan

Cyber Statecraft Initiative Assistant Director Klara Tothova Jordan writes for Huffington Post on why NATO must substitute strategic ambiguity for clarity in formulating how the collective defense pledge plays out in times of cyber threats in order to bolster confidence among NATO allies:

Cybersecurity NATO
Russia’s prominent business weekly, Ekspert, leads its edition this week with the declaration that "Donbas is the Heart of Russia." The article, by its chief editor, Valeriy Fadeyev, picks up the theme from a 1920s Soviet campaign that included the poster at right, which shows industrial goods from Donbas being pumped throughout the Soviet economy. (www.ekspert.com; CC License)

New Atlanticist

Jun 13, 2014

DIRECT TRANSLATION: ‘Donbas, the Heart of Russia’

By Irena Chalupa

A Commentator Close to Putin Writes: Unitary Ukraine is Finished A prominent Russian business magazine, Ekspert, publishes a lead article this week by two highly placed Russian policy thinkers writing about Ukraine’s southeastern provinces and proclaiming, “We won’t abandon them.” That emotional headline might represent more than just another piece of nationalist opinion-making, for the […]

Russia Ukraine
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Jan. 22, 2014

NATOSource

Jun 12, 2014

Russia Acknowledges Sending Aid to Eastern Ukraine

By Michael Birnbaum, Washington Post

Russia’s top diplomat on Wednesday acknowledged for the first time an official relationship with pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, the same day that one of their top leaders made a surprise appearance in Moscow to whip up support for his cause.

OSCE Russia
F-22A Raptor intercepts Russian TU-95 Bear bomber near Alaskan airspace, Nov. 22, 2007

NATOSource

Jun 12, 2014

Russian Bombers Fly Within 50 Miles of California Coast

By Bill Gertz, Washington Free Beacon

Four Russian strategic bombers triggered U.S. air defense systems while conducting practice bombing runs near Alaska this week, with two of the Tu-95 Bear H aircraft coming within 50 miles of the California coast, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (Norad) confirmed Wednesday.

Russia United States and Canada

In the News

Jun 12, 2014

Kramer: A New Western Strategy Toward Russia

By Franklin Kramer

Brent Scowcroft Center Distinguished Fellow Franklin D. Kramer cowrites for The Hill‘s Congress Blog on shaping a long-term Western strategy towards Russia:

Russia Ukraine
Russian military exercise ZAPAD 2009

NATOSource

Jun 11, 2014

Russia Responds to Annual NATO Maneuvers with Surprise Exercise of First Strike Forces

By RT

The Baltic Sea and skies are getting crowded as Russia launches military training of its assault forces in the exclave of Kaliningrad in answer to the double war-games being conducted by joint NATO forces on the territory of the three Baltic States.

NATO Northern Europe

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