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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

In the News

May 6, 2014

Air Force Times: General Calls for Allied Strategy in Any “Show of Force” in Europe

By Atlantic Council

The Air Force Times cites the Atlantic Council for hosting an event with Lt. Gen. Mark Schissler, deputy chairman of NATO’s Military Committee:

NATO Russia
Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, Feb. 27, 2014

NATOSource

May 5, 2014

Hagel to NATO: We Must Summon ‘the Will to Invest in Our Alliance’

By Chuck Hagel, Department of Defense

America did not make commitments abroad “in search of monsters to destroy.” Instead, President Truman joined the North Atlantic Treaty because he said he was convinced that NATO would serve as “a shield against aggression and the fear of aggression”

NATO NATO Partnerships
Canadian soldiers departing for Poland, May 2, 2014

NATOSource

May 5, 2014

Canadian Troops in Poland for Multinational Exercise

By CBC News

Prime Minister Stephen Harper says Canada will send soldiers to Poland to take part in NATO exercises amid growing concerns about Russian aggression toward Ukraine.

NATO Poland

New Atlanticist

May 5, 2014

Putin’s Invasion of Eastern Ukraine: Is It Next Week or Never?

By James Rupert

Ukraine’s escalated violence over the past four days is just the event that seems likely to trigger the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian ground forces massed near its eastern border. Indeed, following the Ukrainian army’s counter-attack against Russian-backed separatists around the eastern Ukrainian city of Slaviansk, and the weekend fighting in the seaport […]

Russia Ukraine
SACEUR Gen. Philip Breedlove

NATOSource

May 5, 2014

NATO Commander Says Russia Doesn’t Need to Invade to Take Over Eastern Ukraine

By Sara Sorcher, National Journal

Russian President Vladimir Putin may be able to annex pieces of Ukraine simply by encouraging unrest among pro-Russian forces inside the country, said Air Force Gen. Philip Breedlove, who commands U.S. and European NATO forces.

NATO Russia

In the News

May 3, 2014

Karatnycky on Conflicting Loyalties within Ukraine

By Adrian Karatnycky

The International Business Times quotes Transatlantic Relations Program Senior Fellow Adrian Karatnycky on how Ukrainians are split politically regarding the crisis in their country:

Russia Ukraine
NATO Secretary General’s Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia James Appathurai

NATOSource

May 2, 2014

NATO Official: Alliance Will Discuss Deployment of ‘Defensive Assets’ in Georgia

By Agenda.ge

NATO Deputy Secretary General’s Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia region James Appathurai said in Tbilisi today that he believed the Alliance would discuss whether NATO allies should deploy “defensive assets” in Georgia.

NATO NATO Partnerships
Latvia's state secretary of defence Janis Sarts

NATOSource

May 2, 2014

NATO Countries Planning Comms Mission in Ukraine

By Paul D. Shinkman, U.S. News & World Report

NATO countries may be ramping up their war of words in the coming weeks in Ukraine, where Russian propaganda flows freely into the east while ill-prepared security forces can’t even talk to one another.

Northern Europe Russia

New Atlanticist

May 2, 2014

Despite Death Threats, Here is the News From Donetsk . . . .

By Irena Chalupa

Oleksiy Matsuka, 31 has been for a decade one of Donetsk’s most prominent journalists. In 2003, he founded Novosti Donbassa (Donbas News), a website to cover his home region. Matsuka soon built a reputation as a courageous investigative journalist, writing stories that most journalists in the Donbas (Donetsk Basin) region avoided. Last week, the Paris-based […]

Russia Ukraine

In the News

May 2, 2014

Hansen on Unrealistic Views of NATO

By Ian Hansen

Atlantic Council Program Assistant Ian Hansen writes for New Eastern Europe on why the belief that NATO expansion is partially culpable for Russian aggression is flawed:

NATO Russia

Experts

Events