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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

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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

UkraineAlert

Jun 5, 2025

Russian hybrid warfare: Ukraine’s success offers lessons for Europe

By Maksym Beznosiuk

As the Kremlin continues to escalate its hybrid war against Europe, Ukraine's unique experience since 2014 of combating Russian hybrid warfare offers important lessons, writes Maksym Beznosiuk.

Conflict Defense Policy

UkraineAlert

Jun 5, 2025

Trump’s Russia policy must be rooted in realism

By Agnia Grigas

The Trump administration favors a realist approach to international relations, but a pragmatic assessment of Russia’s capabilities and objectives is needed to achieve the stated goal of bringing the war in Ukraine to an end, writes Agnia Grigas.

Conflict Disinformation

Inflection Points

Jun 5, 2025

Ukraine just gave us a glimpse into the future of European defense

By Frederick Kempe

European allies need both military capabilities and technological innovation to deter Russia, as Ukraine’s recent drone strikes on Russian air bases underscore.

Europe & Eurasia Politics & Diplomacy

UkraineAlert

Jun 3, 2025

Putin’s punitive peace terms are a call for Ukraine’s complete capitulation

By Peter Dickinson

Vladimir Putin's punitive peace terms for Ukraine would leave the country at the mercy of the Kremlin and confirm his unwavering determination to erase Ukrainian statehood, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict Disinformation
British Army soldiers during Steadfast Dart 25, the Allied Reaction Force’s first large-scale exercise, in Romania on February 17, 2025. North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)/Flickr, https://www.flickr.com/photos/nato/54354207050/in/album-72177720324100561.

Issue Brief

Jun 2, 2025

For NATO in 2027, European leadership will be key to deterrence against Russia

By Scott Lee, Andrew Michta, Peter Jones, and Lisa Bembenick

NATO lacks the operational integration, logistics, and joint force capabilities needed to quickly counter Russian mass and tempo near its borders. With the United States increasingly focused elsewhere, how can the Alliance retain military superiority in 2027 without overreliance on US military might?

Defense Policy Europe & Eurasia

EnergySource

Jun 2, 2025

MDBs must finance nuclear power—or Russia and China will

By Juzel Lloyd

The growing influence of Russia and China in global nuclear energy financing threatens to reshape the future of energy geopolitics. To address this, multilateral development banks must recognize nuclear energy as a vital tool for expanding energy access, and modernize outdated policies to support deployment.

China Energy & Environment

New Atlanticist

Jun 1, 2025

Dispatch from Kyiv: Ukraine’s daring drone attack gives Trump leverage against Putin

By John E. Herbst

Ukraine’s June 1 drone strikes against five bases across Russia underscored its ingenuity and may help shape the negotiations to come.

Conflict Russia

UkraineAlert

May 29, 2025

UN probe: Russia’s ‘human safari’ in Ukraine is a crime against humanity

By Peter Dickinson

UN investigators have concluded that a coordinated Russian campaign of deadly drone strikes targeting civilians in southern Ukraine's Kherson region is a crime against humanity, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict Drones

UkraineAlert

May 29, 2025

Judicial reform must be at the heart of Ukraine’s postwar recovery

By Oleksandr Vasiuk

Amid the horror and the trauma of Russia’s ongoing invasion, Ukrainians now have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to achieve transformational change in the country’s justice system. We must not miss this chance, writes Ukrainian MP Oleksandr Vasiuk.

Civil Society Conflict

In the News

May 29, 2025

Michta in 19FortyFive, RealClearDefense, and RealClearWorld on Putin’s strategic objectives in Ukraine

On May 29, Andrew Michta, senior fellow in the GeoStrategy Initiative, was published in 19FortyFive on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ambition to restore “Russia’s imperial dominion.” He argues the Trump administration has failed to bring an end to the war in Ukraine because it does not fully grasp Putin’s worldview and warns that diminishing support […]

Europe & Eurasia NATO

Experts