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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

New Atlanticist

Jul 17, 2012

Strategic Engagement with Russia 2013-17

By Thomas R. Pickering

Russia remains, in ‘Churchillian’ terms, an enigmatic mystery. In its post-Communist transition to a modern state, Russia has shed most of the impedimenta of Communism and begun to search for new directions. But the old conflict between “Slavophiles” and “Westernizers” has emerged in the streets in a new guise and the outcome remains uncertain. Although […]

Missile Defense Russia

New Atlanticist

Jul 6, 2012

Supporting Human Rights in Russia Should Be a Core Strategic Interest for US

By Anna Borshchevskaya

On Tuesday, July 10, the Russian Duma will vote on ratification of the agreement for Russia’s entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO). Policymakers in both countries view Russia’s entry as a foregone conclusion. The question before Congress therefore is how best to pressure Russia to respect human rights following its repeal of the Jackson-Vanik […]

Russia

New Atlanticist

Jun 12, 2012

Day of Russia or Day of the Kremlin?

By Julian Lindley-French

Today is the Day of Russia. It marks the moment in 1992 when the Declaration on Russian National Sovereignty was adopted by the Russian Parliament and Russia re-emerged from the wreckage of the Soviet Union. Back then there was much hope both in Russia and the rest of the free world that this enormous, great […]

Russia

New Atlanticist

May 30, 2012

Putin’s Management of Russia’s Governors Reveals Regional Fractures, Fear of Losing Power

By Thomas Liles

Since embarking on his third term as Russia’s president on May 7, Vladimir Putin has pushed the issue of gubernatorial elections to the forefront of his agenda. In contrast to his predecessor Dmitry Medvedev, who made several symbolic concessions to the country’s pro-democracy opposition, Putin has taken a decidedly more “managerial” approach which, unsurprisingly, contradicts […]

Russia

New Atlanticist

May 24, 2012

Ukraine Is Belarus, not Russia

By Taras Kuzio

Ukraine’s leaders remain convinced they will be treated by the West like Russia, whose human rights violations are largely ignored. In reality, Ukraine is being treated like Belarus, whose human rights situation is scrutinized and regularly condemned. In a speech to Germany’s lower house of parliament, Chancellor Angela Merkel said, “Today we are living in […]

Belarus Europe & Eurasia

Event Recap

May 23, 2012

Permanent Normal Trade Relations with Russia

By Adrienne Chuck

The Atlantic Council held a conversation with Anders Åslund and Gary Hufbauer about their latest book, The United States Should Establish Permanent Normal Trade Relations with Russia on May 23. Anders Åslund is senior fellow and Gary Hufbauer is the Reginald Jones senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. Ross Wilson, director of the […]

Russia United States and Canada

New Atlanticist

May 23, 2012

NATO’s Ballistic Missile Defense: A Promising Triumph of Prudence

By Boyko Noev

At their Chicago summit, NATO heads of state and government declared that the Alliance had achieved an interim ballistic missile defense (BMD) capability. This political-military project is one the most important achievements in NATO’s post- Cold War history and goes far beyond the technical aspects of a very unique and complex defense system. First and […]

Missile Defense NATO

New Atlanticist

May 18, 2012

Yes to Missile Defense, With Russia

By Wolfgang Ischinger

The NATO summit in Chicago starting on Sunday is expected to declare an “interim capability” of a NATO missile defense shield. Although Russia had been invited by NATO at its summit in Lisbon in 2010 to cooperate in setting up a joint ballistic missile defense system, or B.M.D., the alliance is now poised to proceed […]

Missile Defense NATO

Issue Brief

May 13, 2012

It’s Time to Put the Nuclear Issue Behind Us

By George Robertson, Franklin C. Miller, and Kori Schake

In a new Atlantic Council issue brief, authors Lord Robertson, Franklin C. Miller, and Kori Schake urge NATO heads of states to put nuclear issues behind them when they gather in Chicago this week. They argue that it is time to halt the internecine warfare which distracts Western national security experts, and has no obvious […]

NATO Russia

Event Recap

May 11, 2012

Russia After Presidential Elections: Putin’s Inauguration and the Future of Russian Opposition

By Jason Harmala

On May 11, the Atlantic Council’s Patriciu Eurasia Center hosted a conversation with Mr. Vladimir Kara-Murza, prominent Russian journalist and member of the federal council of Solidarnost (“Solidarity”) — Russia’s democratic opposition movement, which was instrumental in organizing mass protests after Russia’s 2011 parliamentary elections in Russia.

Russia

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