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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

Sep 22, 2008

NATO’s Tunnel Vision: Seeing Beyond Russia

By Nikolas Gvosdev

Perusing the media reports after the meeting of NATO defense ministers in London, I was most struck by what did not appear. For instance, no apparent discussion about what is a growing threat to the economic security of the entire Euro-Atlantic world—the increasing ability of both “rogue states” and non-state actors (warlords, rebels and terrorist […]

NATO Russia

New Atlanticist

Sep 16, 2008

Debate: Is Russia Rational?

By James Joyner

A question that has been raised repeatedly, both explicitly and implicitly, since Russia’s invasion of Georgia is the degree to which Vladimir Putin and Dmitri Medvedev are rational actors.  Surely, many argue, it makes no sense for Russia to risk isolating itself from the West to make a point?

Russia

New Atlanticist

Sep 16, 2008

Russia a Rational Actor? Nyet!

By Robert Manning

After all the huffing and puffing about what civilizations don’t do in the 21st century (does Abu Ghraib ring a bell?) on the one side, and finger-wagging about spheres of influence on the other, what does the Georgia tragedy add up to? Is cooperation with Russia fading beneath a new Cold War? Is Russia facing […]

Russia

New Atlanticist

Sep 16, 2008

Russia a Rational Actor? Da!

By Christopher Harness

The world sat startled when Russia heavy-handedly violated the sovereignty of Georgia.  It is currently aggravated at Russian reluctance to promptly leave.  In the aftermath, everyone is hurriedly analyzing, grasping for reasons why Russia felt the need to go all in.

Russia

New Atlanticist

Sep 15, 2008

Cold War II

By James Joyner

The dramatic escalation in tensions between NATO and Russia that followed the West’s recognition of Kosovo’s independence from Serbia and, especially, Russia’s invasion of Georgia, have many analysts fearing a return to the bad old days of the Cold War.   Jim Townsend, the Atlantic Council’s vice president for international security programs, declared to a C-SPAN […]

NATO Russia

New Atlanticist

Sep 11, 2008

Russia’s Godfathers

By Fran Burwell

Is French President Nicolas Sarkozy negotiating with Don Corleone? Sarkozy, leading the European Union effort to secure a Russian withdrawal from Georgia, has returned from Moscow with another agreement. This time, Russian troops are to withdraw from the so-called “buffer zone” after the placement of 200 EU monitors in the regions outside South Ossetia and […]

European Union International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Sep 10, 2008

Will the Near Abroad Go Nuclear?

By Alexander Motyl

As Europe redefines its security interests vis-à-vis Russia in the aftermath of Vladimir Putin’s war against Georgia, both sides have reverted to the kind of geopolitical thinking that, while reasonably accurate during the Cold War, is devoid of reality today.

Europe & Eurasia Russia

New Atlanticist

Sep 9, 2008

Russia’s Empty Promises

By James Joyner

Mark Mardell, the BBC’s resident Euroblogger, is quite pleased with Moscow’s concessions to Nicolas Sarkozy and his EU delegation.  While hedging his bets, he writes, “If this first superficial take is as it appears then Sarkozy has done rather well and those who insisted on both unity and a firmish line at the EU summit […]

Russia

New Atlanticist

Sep 8, 2008

Would NATO Defend Narva?

By Alexander Motyl

Russia’s war against Georgia has forced Europeans to ask where their true interests lie and which country they’d be willing to defend if and when a Russian push ever comes to shove.

NATO Northern Europe

New Atlanticist

Sep 8, 2008

NATO and the Near Abroad: Beyond Bucharest

By Nikolas Gvosdev

Those predicting that the Russian incursion into Georgia will rejuvenate transatlantic solidarity might be overly optimistic.

NATO Russia

Experts