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

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Oct. 9, 2012

NATOSource

Sep 16, 2013

NATO Secretary General Welcomes US/Russia Agreement on Syria’s Chemical Arsenal

By Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO

Statement by the NATO Secretary General on the framework for elimination of Syrian chemical weapons.

NATO Russia
President of Russia Vladimir Putin

NATOSource

Sep 12, 2013

A Plea for Caution From Russia

By Vladimir Putin, New York Times

No one wants the United Nations to suffer the fate of the League of Nations, which collapsed because it lacked real leverage.

International Organizations Iran
Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Barack Obama, June 22, 2012

NATOSource

Sep 11, 2013

Obama Administration Debated Trading Missile Defense and NATO Enlargement for Russia to Cut Support to Assad

By Adam Entous, Greg White, and Peter Nicholas, Wall Street Journal

President Barack Obama’s 15 seconds of face time with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, while American and Russian warships patrolled the eastern Mediterranean, spoke to a deep chill that has created one of the biggest complications to the U.S.’s plan to strike Syria.

Missile Defense NATO
President of Finland Sauli Niinisto and NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Nov. 14, 2012

NATOSource

Sep 11, 2013

Finland, Sweden Mull NATO Option

By Gerard O'Dwyer, Defense News

Finland’s Armed Forces’ commander in chief, President Sauli Niinistö, has entered the debate over whether the Nordic nation should join NATO as a long-term solution to meeting its future defense needs.

NATO Northern Europe
Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt

NATOSource

Sep 9, 2013

Sweden Lashes Out at Russian ‘Economic Warfare’ in East Europe

By Justyna Pawlak and Adrian Croft, Reuters

Sweden accused Russia on Friday of waging “economic warfare” against former Soviet republics that have been considering closer trade relations with the European Union and said the EU needed a strategy to resist Moscow.

European Union International Organizations
Russian State Secretary and Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin

NATOSource

Sep 5, 2013

Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Warns of ‘Serious Consequences’ if Georgia Joins NATO

By Katerina O. Labetskaya, Russia Direct

[I]t seems that some politicians in the West regard the positive processes to ease the tensions in Russian-Georgian relations as an opportunity to continue the same policy of attracting Tbilisi into NATO

NATO Russia
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen

NATOSource

Sep 5, 2013

NATO Chief Regrets Divisions Over Syria

By AFP

NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen sharply regretted international divisions over Syria on Sept. 5, warning that such splits risked sending a message of encouragement to dictators

European Union International Organizations
Obama administraion authorized hundreds of offensive cyber operations

NATOSource

Aug 31, 2013

US Spy Agencies Mounted 231 Offensive Cyber-Operations in 2011, Documents Show

By Barton Gellman and Ellen Nakashima, Washington Post

U.S. intelligence services carried out 231 offensive cyber-operations in 2011

China Cybersecurity
Obama meeting with Baltic leaders at White House

NATOSource

Aug 30, 2013

Obama Highlights Strong Relationships with Nordic-Baltic Countries

By Magnus Nordenman

President Barack Obama’s meeting in Washington with the presidents of the Baltic states, his trip to Sweden, and his meeting with the Nordic heads of government while there, is a recognition of the broad success story of the region

Afghanistan NATO
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov

NATOSource

Aug 26, 2013

Syria: Russia Dooms Hopes of UN Security Council Resolution

By Raf Sanchez and Roland Oliphant, Telegraph

As the US, Britain and France edged closer to approving strikes in response to the alleged use of chemical weapons, the Kremlin said that the West was moving down “a very dangerous path.”

France International Organizations

Experts

Events