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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

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.

In-Depth Research & Reports

Jun 2, 2025

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

By Andrew A. Michta

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multilateral development banks must recognize nuclear energy as a vital tool for expanding energy access, and modernize outdated policies to support deployment.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

New Atlanticist

May 29, 2025

Welcome to the long war: Why a Ukraine deal was never realistic

By Brian Whitmore

There is no deal to be had with Russia on Ukraine—there never has been, and there never will be.

Conflict Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding

UkraineAlert

May 29, 2025

Fiber optic drones could play decisive role in Russia’s summer offensive

By David Kirichenko

Russia's emphasis on fiber optic drones is giving it a battlefield edge over Ukraine and may help Putin achieve a long hoped for breakthrough in his coming summer offensive, writes David Kirichenko.

Conflict Defense Industry

Inflection Points

May 28, 2025

Dispatch from Dayton: What Trump can learn about ending war

By Frederick Kempe

A recent visit of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly to Ohio—thirty years after the Dayton Accords ended the Bosnian War—raised important questions about what lessons can be applied to ending Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Conflict Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding

UkraineAlert

May 27, 2025

Russia is extinguishing all traces of Ukrainian identity in occupied Ukraine

By Kateryna Odarchenko

Throughout occupied Ukraine, the Russian authorities are seeking to consolidate their control by eradicating all traces of Ukrainian statehood and national identity while imposing a reign of terror on the civilian population, writes Kateryna Odarchenko.

Conflict Disinformation

Experts

Events