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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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REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko

New Atlanticist

May 19, 2014

Russian Campaign in Eastern Ukraine is Losing Steam, ex-US Ambassador Says

By James Rupert

Atlantic Council’s John Herbst Cites Putin Pullbacks, Statements by Russian Leaders in Ukraine Insurgency Today’s announcement by Russia’s government that President Vladimir Putin has ordered a pullback of Russian troops from Ukraine’s border is the latest of a half-dozen signals that “the Russian effort to destabilize eastern Ukraine is losing steam,” according to the director […]

Russia Ukraine
Latvian soldier participating in Steadfast Jazz exercise

NATOSource

May 19, 2014

Unprotected in the East: NATO Appears Toothless in Russia Crisis

By Spiegel

According to information SPIEGEL obtained by SPIEGEL, a draft version of a comprehensive, restricted internal NATO assessment of the situation reads: “Russia’s ability to undertake significant military action with little warning presents a wider threat to the maintenance of security and stability in the Euro-Atlantic area.

Germany NATO
Opening ceremony for Steadfast Jazz Exercise

NATOSource

May 19, 2014

Spiegel: NATO Unprepared If Russia Moved into Baltic Members

By Deutsche Welle

According to the German magazine Spiegel, NATO is examining scenarios in the event of a Russian military move in Eastern Europe. Alarm bells are already ringing in eastern states, and NATO is keen to show it could cope.

Germany NATO

In the News

May 18, 2014

Karatnycky on Ukrainian Presidential Election

By Adrian Karatnycky

The New York Times quotes Transatlantic Relations Program Senior Fellow Adrian Karatnycky on Petro Poroshenko’s candidacy in the upcoming Ukrainian presidential election:

Russia Ukraine

New Atlanticist

May 16, 2014

Ukraine Magnate’s Steelworkers Confront Secessionist Militias

By Irena Chalupa and James Rupert

Rinat Akhmetov’s Intervention Means Kyiv Government Will Have to Negotiate With Him What does it mean?  Thousands of steelworkers and other employees of Ukraine’s biggest business empire are now patrolling several cities in southeastern Ukraine, working with local police to oppose further violence by Russian-backed secessionist militias. However effective this initiative turns out to be, […]

Russia Ukraine
Defense Commission of the Swedish Parliament visited Lithuania

NATOSource

May 16, 2014

Swedish Defense Commission Says Russian Aggression in Ukraine has Increased Risk in Nordic and Baltic Region

By Swedish Mission to NATO

The Swedish Parliamentary Defence Commission (Försvarsberedningen) presented its defence report to Minister for Defence Karin Enström on 15 May.

NATO NATO Partnerships

New Atlanticist

May 15, 2014

Ukraine’s May 25 Vote May Be Its Freest Yet, Despite Crisis, Election Official Says

By Irena Chalupa

Ukraine’s May 25 election, an event critical to strengthening the legitimacy of Ukraine’s government as it confronts attacks by Russia, may in some ways be the freest vote for a Ukrainian president since the country became independent 22 year ago, says Andriy Mahera, the deputy chairman of the country’s election commission. That’s because, for the […]

Russia Ukraine
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen with the Prime Ministers of the Visegrad countries

NATOSource

May 15, 2014

Rasmussen: NATO Members Need to Increase Their Defense Budgets

By Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO

Twenty-five years ago, this part of Europe was the front-line in the fight for freedom. Barbed wire fences were cut. Walls came down. And freedom prevailed over force.

NATO Russia
REUTERS/Alexander Khudotioply

New Atlanticist

May 15, 2014

In Ukraine’s East, the Cautious Middle Path of Oligarch-in-Chief Rinat Akhmetov

By Irena Chalupa and James Rupert

Business Magnate Speaks Out for Ukraine’s Unity, but Does Not Condemn Separatism What is Rinat Akhmetov’s vision for the future of his home region, the Donbas (Donetsk Basin) of southeastern Ukraine? As Ukraine’s wealthiest business magnate (worth $12 billion according to Forbes) and owner of mining, steel, and energy companies that form a pillar of […]

Russia Ukraine

New Atlanticist

May 15, 2014

Bad Timing for Putin: He Would Have Preferred to Wait a Year on Ukraine

By Nikolas K. Gvosdev

Moscow May Have a Plan to Subvert Kyiv, But it Wasn’t for Launch in 2014 Whether the Kremlin is improvising in its confrontation with Ukraine or following a well-established plan, it is clear that the Putin administration had hoped to postpone the showdown for at least several years. The Russian government anticipated that former Ukrainian […]

Russia Ukraine

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