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

Apr 6, 2009

Obama’s Russia Reset – Don’t Forget About Congress

By Nikolas Gvosdev

Presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev had a cordial meeting last week. No major breakthroughs occurred, but both men indicated that they could do business together. That’s not going to be enough.

Russia United States and Canada

New Atlanticist

Apr 1, 2009

Medvedev And The Need To De-Personalize Foreign Policy

By Daniel Larison

Ross Douthat  mentions this profile of Russian President Medvedev as an interesting source of background, and I agree that it is a useful primer on Medvedev if you are not familiar with his career prior to his elevation by Putin and election, but I am instinctively wary of efforts to interpret the actions of foreign […]

Russia

New Atlanticist

Apr 1, 2009

Russia Must Also Hit the Reset Button

By Damon Wilson

In London today, President Obama will begin to test whether he can hit the reset button in U.S.-Russian relations during his first bilateral meeting with President Medvedev.  This is not the first time the United States has tried to “reset” relations with a post-Soviet Moscow.

Russia

New Atlanticist

Mar 27, 2009

Russia Ending War in Chechnya?

By James Joyner

Russia appears ready to declare victory and end its struggle in the breakaway republic of Chechna, Radio Free Europe reports.  Budget concerns, rather than a change of heart or conditions on the ground, is the likely culprit.

Russia

New Atlanticist

Mar 19, 2009

Russia Revamps Military in Response to NATO Expansion

By Peter Cassata

Speaking to high-level generals this week, Dmitry Medvedev vowed to move forward with controversial personnel reforms and rearmament plans for Russia’s military.  He cited NATO expansion as the primary motivator for the plans, sparking concerns about a renewed arms race in the face of deteriorating U.S.-Russia relations.

NATO Russia

New Atlanticist

Mar 14, 2009

Russia Considers Caribbean Based Bombers

By James Joyner

A senior Russian general says his country is contemplating basing strategic bombers in the Caribbean, either on a Venezuelan island or Cuba. 

Cuba Russia

New Atlanticist

Mar 6, 2009

Hillary Clinton Goes to Russia

By James Joyner

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is meeting with Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov in an attempt to make good on Vice President Joe Biden’s pledge to “push the reset button” in the bilateral relationship.  The task will, to say the least, not be an easy one.

NATO Russia

New Atlanticist

Mar 5, 2009

NATO Resumes Russia Ties

By James Joyner

NATO has ended Russia’s “time-out,” presumably thinking it has suffered long enough for invading its neighbor. NATO foreign ministers agreed Thursday to resume high-level formal ties with Russia, suspended last year after Moscow’s military thrust into Georgia.

NATO Russia

New Atlanticist

Mar 5, 2009

The Gas Contract or I’ll Shoot!

By Boyko Nitzov

March 4th was apparently one of those days when everyone concerned with gas supply from Russia across Ukraine to the EU could rejoice and put any concerns to rest: the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) raided at gunpoint the headquarters of Ukraine’s oil and gas company, Naftogaz.

Energy & Environment Russia

New Atlanticist

Mar 4, 2009

USA Done by 2010: Russian Diplomatic Academy Dean

By James Joyner

A prominent Russian scholar is making a bold prediction: If you’re inclined to believe Igor Panarin, and the Kremlin wouldn’t mind if you did, then President Barack Obama will order martial law this year, the U.S. will split into six rump-states before 2011, and Russia and China will become the backbones of a new world […]

Russia

Experts