issue spotlight

Stay updated

COMMENTARY & ANALYSIS

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

recent events

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

Article

Mar 31, 2014

How to Avoid Wars: NATO’s Article 5 and Strategic Reassurance

By Edgar Buckley and Ioan Pascu

The worst move in an international crisis is to confuse others about your resolve.  That way wars start, witness the first and second world wars when Britain failed to make clear early enough that it would fight. Might NATO be guilty of a similar lack of clarity today?   Not by measuring what it says. The […]

NATO Russia
Mistral warship

NATOSource

Mar 31, 2014

NATO Should Buy the Mistral Warships Intended for Russia

By Jeff Lightfoot, Defense News

NATO should buy the two Mistral warships France is building for export to the Russian Federation this year and make them a commonly shared asset.

France NATO
German Eurofighter

NATOSource

Mar 31, 2014

Germany Mulls Military Support for NATO’s Eastern European States

By Madeline Chambers, Reuters

Der Spiegel said the defense ministry was ready to make available up to six aircraft for a strengthened air patrolling mission in parts of eastern Europe.

Central Europe Germany

Event Recap

Mar 31, 2014

European Energy Security and the Ukraine Crisis

The Atlantic Council, Grupa Lotos, and the Embassy of Poland to the United States were delighted to host host General James. L Jones, Chairman of the Atlantic Council’s Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security, former Supreme Allied Commander, and former United States National Security Advisor for a discussion of European Energy Security.  

Russia Ukraine

New Atlanticist

Mar 31, 2014

Benitez on NATO’s Response to Developments in Ukraine

By New Atlanticist

Atlantic Council Senior Fellow Jorge Benitez spoke with DefenseNews on NATO’s response to the situation in Ukraine.

Russia Ukraine

New Atlanticist

Mar 31, 2014

Looking at Obama’s Presidency

By New Atlanticist

Council President and CEO Fred Kempe appeared on CSPAN’s Washington Journal this weekend. Kempe talked about President Obama’s trip abroad, during which the president attended the U.S.-European Union Summit in Brussels, met with Pope Francis in Vatican City, and then traveled to Saudi Arabia to meet with King Abdullah. The show started with a conversation […]

Russia Ukraine

New Atlanticist

Mar 31, 2014

The US and EU Must Take New Steps Quickly to Help Ukraine

By Taras Kuzio

Transatlantic Allies Should Include Military Aid for Kyiv News organizations last week reported a new conclusion by US intelligence agencies that Russian forces massed on Ukraine’s eastern borders are increasingly likely to invade mainland Ukraine, only weeks after seizing Crimea. Russian President Vladimir Putin is determined to undermine the political legitimacy of a Ukrainian government […]

Russia Ukraine
Unidentified gunmen at Simferopol Airport, Feb. 28, 2014

NATOSource

Mar 28, 2014

President of Estonia: Russia has to Pay a Price for its Aggression

By Toomas Hendrik Ilves, Washington Post

Russia’s aggression in Ukraine marks a paradigm shift, the end of trust in the post-Cold War order.

NATO Northern Europe

In the News

Mar 28, 2014

Brzezinski: Russian Forces “Poised to Move”

By Ian Brzezinski

Brent Scowcroft Center Senior Fellow Ian Brzezinski is quoted in USA Today on Ukraine’s preparedness for an invasion by Russian forces:

Russia Ukraine
Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and UK Minister of Defense Philip Hammond

NATOSource

Mar 28, 2014

UK Defense Minister: Putin Directly Overseeing Troop Buildup Near Ukraine

By Adam Entous, Wall Street Journal

Russian President Vladimir Putin is directly overseeing a military buildup near Ukraine and it is not clear to what extent his defense minister and others in the government are involved in the decision making, British Defense Minister Philip Hammond

Russia Ukraine

Experts