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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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Entrance to Sloviansk City Council, April 14, 2014

NATOSource

May 9, 2014

Putin’s Unconventional Tools for Destabilizing Neighbors and Undermining NATO

By Massimo Calabresi, TIME

Over the last decade, Putin has established a well-organized, well-funded and often subtle overt and covert operation in the vast swath of neighboring countries, from Estonia on the Baltic Sea to Azerbaijan in the Caucuses, say western and regional government officials.

NATO Northern Europe
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen at Tallinn University, May 9, 2014

NATOSource

May 9, 2014

NATO Chief: Russia’s Actions in Ukraine are Outrageous, Irresponsible, Illegal, and Illegitimate

By Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO

Russia’s recent actions in Ukraine are outrageous. They are irresponsible, they are illegal, they are illegitimate.

NATO Northern Europe

New Atlanticist

May 8, 2014

The Mission in the Middle: OSCE’s Team Amid Ukraine’s War

By Irena Chalupa

Militia’s Detention of Monitoring Team Underscores Challenges to Group Tasked as Neutral Observer The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has deployed about 150 of what are to be at least 300 monitors in Ukraine in its mission to de-escalate its conflict with Russian-backed separatists in the country’s south and east. Patience, restraint […]

Russia Ukraine
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, December 4, 2009

NATOSource

May 8, 2014

NATO Official: Russia Now An Adversary

By Robert Burns, AP

After two decades of trying to build a partnership with Russia, NATO now feels compelled to start treating Moscow as an adversary, the alliance’s second-ranking official said Thursday.

NATO Russia
REUTERS/Marko Djurica

New Atlanticist

May 8, 2014

Putin Pauses His Ukraine Campaign

By Irena Chalupa

Secession Referendum Appears Ill-Prepared – and Kyiv Depicts a Plan to Falsify Vote Result After weeks of supporting plans by pro-Russian separatists to hold a referendum in southeastern Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s call yesterday for a delay in the vote is a tactical retreat in his campaign to prevent the consolidation of a truly […]

Russia Ukraine
US F-15 Eagle tracking Russian Tu-95 Bear Bomber near coast of Alaska, Sept. 28, 2008

NATOSource

May 8, 2014

US General: Russia Flying Sorties Near California, Linked to Ukraine Crisis

By David Brunnstrom, Reuters

The head of U.S. air forces in the Pacific said on Monday that Russia’s intervention in Ukraine had been accompanied by a significant increase in Russian air activity in the Asia-Pacific region in a show of strength and to gather intelligence.

Russia Ukraine
REUTERS/Denis Sinyakov

New Atlanticist

May 8, 2014

Russian Human Rights Activists Challenge Putin on Crimea Seizure

By James Rupert

A Mathematics Professor Leads Dissenters Current and former official human rights advisors to President Vladimir Putin have issued a report that undermines his claim to have legitimately annexed Crimea – and they caused a stir this week by posting it on a Kremlin website. Three activists, including one current and one former member of the […]

Russia Ukraine
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, May 8, 2014

NATOSource

May 8, 2014

NATO Sees No Sign of Russian Troop Pullback from Ukraine Border

By AFP

NATO said Thursday it had yet to see “any indications” that Russia has withdrawn its troops from the Ukraine border, a day after President Vladimir Putin claimed to have done so.

NATO Russia
HMS Dragon exercising in the English Channel, August 30, 2011

NATOSource

May 8, 2014

UK Deploys a Destroyer to Track Russian Aircraft Carrier Near Coastal Waters

By Andrew Osborn, Reuters

Britain said on Thursday it had deployed a destroyer to track a Russian aircraft carrier sailing close to its coastal waters, the latest in a series of such incidents and a reminder of underlying tensions between London and Moscow.

Russia United Kingdom

In the News

May 7, 2014

Brzezinski: Putin is Driving the Unrest in Ukraine

By Ian Brzezinski

CNBC quotes Brent Scowcroft Center Senior Fellow Ian Brzezinski on how the Ukraine crisis has affected oil prices:

Russia Ukraine

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