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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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Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu

NATOSource

Nov 11, 2013

Defense Minister Says NATO and Terrorism are the Top Security Threats to Russia

By RIA Novosti and Moscow Times

From RIA Novosti:  Terrorism and NATO expansion near Russian borders pose key threats to Russia’s national security, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Saturday.

Missile Defense NATO
Soldiers of the 173rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team participating in Steadfast Jazz

NATOSource

Nov 8, 2013

NATO Hones Old Role, Preparing for New

By Stephen Fidler, Wall Street Journal

Here in Poland’s northern plains, one of Europe’s historic battlegrounds, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is carrying out its biggest military exercise in seven years.

NATO Poland
NATO Exercise Steadfast Jazz

NATOSource

Nov 4, 2013

NATO Opens Major War Game; Russia Irked

By AP and NATO

From John-Thor Dahlburg, AP:  NATO this week is holding its biggest war game in years, and the Russians aren’t happy it’s happening so near their borders.

NATO Poland
Russian TOS-1 30-barrel multiple rocket launchers

NATOSource

Nov 1, 2013

Poland, NATO, and the Return of History

By John R. Schindler, National Interest

The reemergence of Russia as a traditional military power is now clear to all who wish to see.

European Union International Organizations
About 7,000 troops will be involved in NATO Exercise Steadfast Jazz

NATOSource

Nov 1, 2013

NATO Stages Exercise as Rearming Russia Worries Some Allies

By Peter Apps, Reuters

When NATO forces start a major exercise in Latvia and Poland this weekend, they will be rehearsing how to oust an anonymous invading enemy from a fictional region.

NATO Russia
President Vladimir Putin with Deputy PM Dmitry Rogozin and Director General Vladimir Popovkin

NATOSource

Oct 31, 2013

Putin Dissolves Task Force for Missile Defense Cooperation with NATO

By Global Security Newswire

Russian President Vladimir Putin has nullified a 2011 order that created an interagency working group inside the Kremlin that focused on fostering missile defense collaboration with NATO, the Voice of Russia reported on Thursday.

Missile Defense NATO
Armenian president Serzh Sargsyan with Russian president Vladimir Putin

NATOSource

Oct 31, 2013

Russian Base In Armenia Signals Role In Possible Karabakh War

By Radio Azatutyun

Russian troops stationed in Armenia could openly side with it in case of a renewed Armenian-Azerbaijani war for Nagorno-Karabakh, according to their top commander, Colonel Andrey Ruzinsky.

Russia The Caucasus
Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, October 23, 2013

NATOSource

Oct 24, 2013

US to Allies: NATO May be Asked to Assist in Destroying Chemical Weapons in Syria

By Chuck Hagel, Department of Defense

Today we held the first defense ministerial meeting in several years of the NATO-Russia Council.

NATO Russia
US has only two Coast Guard icebreakers, "neither in first-class shape"

NATOSource

Oct 23, 2013

High North or High Tension?

By James Stavridis, Foreign Policy

The recent rise in tension in Russia’s relationship with the other Arctic front-line states — all of which happen to be in NATO — doesn’t help.

China International Organizations
Prime Minister of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan, March 26, 2012

NATOSource

Oct 23, 2013

Turkish PM Rebukes NATO over China Missile Deal Criticism

By Hurriyet Daily News and Anadolu Agency

From Hürriyet Daily News:  Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan rebuffed intensified international criticism over Turkey’s choice to agree a missile defense deal with China, a day after NATO declared that it wanted a say in the decision-making process.

China Missile Defense

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