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

New Atlanticist

Mar 1, 2014

Brzezinski: US Must Specify Sanctions on Russia Over Crimea

By New Atlanticist

US Debates ‘Business as Usual’ With Russia, Says Council’s Damon Wilson As President Obama warned Russia that “there will be costs” if it pursues an invasion of the Ukrainian region of Crimea, policymakers in Washington are debating whether to sustain or suspend “business as usual” with the Russian government, the Atlantic Council’s Damon Wilson said. […]

Russia Ukraine

New Atlanticist

Feb 28, 2014

Obama Warns Russia: “There Will Be Costs for Any Military Intervention in Ukraine”

By New Atlanticist

Here is the text of President Obama’s statement today on developments in Crimea:

Russia Ukraine

In the News

Feb 28, 2014

Brzezinski Comments on Crimea Occupation

By Ian Brzezinski

Ian Brzezinski, senior fellow for the Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security, is quoted by CNBC on Russia’s aggressive moves in Crimea:

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

NATOSource

Feb 27, 2014

Hagel Warns Russia Not to Intervene in Ukraine

By New York Times and Department of Defense

From Helene Cooper, New York Times:  Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel warned Russia on Thursday to stay out of the turmoil in Ukraine

NATO NATO Partnerships
Russian Troops

NATOSource

Feb 27, 2014

Russia Should Avoid Raising the Stakes Over Ukraine

By Ivo Daalder, Financial Times

At the very least, a military exercise on this massive scale, so close to the borders with a sovereign state, is meant to send a stern message to the new leaders of Ukraine that there is a limit to that nation’s independence.

NATO NATO Partnerships
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Feb. 26, 2014

NATOSource

Feb 27, 2014

NATO Warns Russia on Ukraine

By Julian E. Barnes, Wall Street Journal

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s top official warned Russia on Thursday not to take any actions that could escalate tension in Crimea.

NATO NATO Partnerships

New Atlanticist

Feb 27, 2014

Would the Loss of Ukraine Harden Russia Policy on Syria?

By Barbara Slavin

Why do despots invariably have such atrocious taste?  Ukrainians wandering wide-eyed through the palace outside Kyiv of fugitive Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych simultaneously marveled and gagged at the gilded furniture, stuffed dead cats and gold bathroom fixtures. But their elation at overturning their corrupt, if elected, president could fade quickly if Russia’s elected, if authoritarian, president Vladimir […]

Russia Syria
Signs of solidarity with Ukraine during debate in European Parliament, Dec. 12, 2013

NATOSource

Feb 24, 2014

Brzezinski: Ukraine Should Join EU, but No Military Alliance

By Zbigniew Brzezinski, Financial Times

The west, however, can play a constructive role in containing the exploding violence. That will take concerted action by the US and the EU.

European Union International Organizations

In the News

Feb 21, 2014

Wilson: “Russia is Playing a Zero-Sum Game with Us”

By Damon Wilson

The New York Times quotes Atlantic Council Executive VP Damon Wilson on the conflict playing out between Russia and the United States over Ukraine:

Russia Ukraine
Former Finnish Minister of Defense Elisabeth Rehn at the Pentagon, May 19, 1993

NATOSource

Feb 18, 2014

Former Finnish Defense Minister Rehn: I am No Longer Sure About the Strength of NATO

By Lithuania Tribune

The chief editor of The Lithuania Tribune Ruslanas Iržikevičius talked to Elisabeth Rehn, former Minister of Defence of Finland.

NATO NATO Partnerships

Experts

Events