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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.

The Russia Tomorrow series

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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

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

Event Recap

Apr 13, 2012

Economic and Trade Implications of Russia’s World Trade Organization Accession

By Jason Harmala

The Atlantic Council hosted a discussion on April 13 covering the economic and trade implications of Russia’s accession into the World Trade Organization (WTO) with three leading public policy and business experts in the United States and Russia.

Economy & Business Russia

New Atlanticist

Apr 10, 2012

Bringing Turkey and Russia Closer to the European Neighborhood Policy

By Kristina Mikulova

As NATO and the EU have shelved enlargement – the juiciest “carrot” motivating reform in aspirant countries – it is even more crucial for the transatlantic community to refine existing institutional frameworks for engagement in order to prevent reform inertia – or worse – backsliding.

European Union International Organizations

Issue Brief

Apr 4, 2012

Rethinking the Russia Reset

By Frances Burwell and Svante Cornell

As public protests continue throughout Russia, 2012 will be a decisive year in Russia’s domestic politics, with uncertain implications for the future of the US-Russia Reset. Against the backdrop of a US-Russia relationship in flux, the Atlantic Council released the issue brief, “Rethinking the Russia Reset,” which makes recommendations for US and Russian policymakers to […]

Russia

Experts