THE POLITICS OF UKRAINE ASSISTANCE
Ukraine struggles to hold back Russian troops in the east amid manpower and ammunition shortages. Russian missiles attack Ukrainian cities as concerns mount over depleted air defenses. Continue reading
In Russia, Mafiaism Is the New Communism
ALEKSEI NAVALNY AND YEVGENY PRIGOZHIN had little in common. Except for the fact that they both got whacked on the orders of the same crime boss. Continue reading
TERROR IN MOSCOW, DELUSION IN THE KREMLIN
Russia suffers its deadliest terrorist attack in two decades after ignoring a warning from U.S. intelligence – a warning that Vladimir Putin dismissed at the time as “blackmail.” Continue reading
Brian Whitmore on DW News – March 24, 2024
Brian Whitmore’s interview on DW News about an attack in Moscow.
ALL THE DICTATOR’S MEN
In Vladimir Putin’s Russia, where institutions are weak and the rule of law nonexistent, all politics are essentially court politics. Continue reading
RUSSIA AFTER NAVALNY
How will the Russian opposition’s battle against Vladimir Putin look without Aleksei Navalny? Continue reading
Brian Whitmore on The National Interest – February 21, 2024
Brian Whitmore’s article on The National Interest where he discusses Russia’s strategy of “Capture”. Continue reading
TWO YEARS OF WAR
Two years ago, Vladimir Putin launched a war of aggression and a war of choice against Ukraine — and he expected it to be a cakewalk. It wasn’t. Rather than a quick shock-and-awe assault that would spark regime change in Kyiv, Ukraine instead fought Russia to a draw – driving its forces away from the capital and fighting them to a standstill in the Donbas. Continue reading
Brian Whitmore on NewsNation – February 2024
Brian Whitmore’s interview on NewsNation where he discusses the American hostages being held in Russia. Continue reading
Brian Whitmore on ABC Radio Australia – February 2024
Brian Whitmore’s interview on ABC Radio Australia to discuss the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
DEATH OF A DISSIDENT
Vladimir Putin has apparently eliminated another opponent.
Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny, the opposition leader and anti-corruption activist who has battled the Putin regime for more than a decade, has suddenly and suspiciously died in a prison inside the Arctic Circle, after appearing healthy and jovial one day prior. Not since the November 2015 assassination of Boris Nemtsov has such a prominent opposition leader been killed. Continue reading
THE PRESIDENT AND THE GENERALS
The president has sacked his top general. After months of behind-the-scenes tension and after days of intense speculation and rumors, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has fired General Valery Zaluzhny as chief of the country’s armed forces. Continue reading
RUSSIA TOMORROW: FIVE SCENARIOS FOR RUSSIA’S FUTURE
What will Russia look like in 10 years, or 20? How much longer will Vladimir Putin’s two-decade-plus rule last? Who — and what — will come after him? Will Russia continue its expansionist and anti-Western course? Or will it seek rapprochement? Will Russia remain intact, or will it disintegrate like the Soviet Union before it? And how should the United States and its allies prepare for all of these contingencies? Continue reading
NUKES, LIES, AND ‘SECURITY ASSURANCES’
Nearly three decades ago, Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakhstan agreed to give up the nuclear arsenals they had inherited from the Soviet Union, turning them over to Russia. Continue reading
THE WAR IN THE WEST
In addition to the front lines in the Donbas, the battle for Ukraine’s future is being fought out in Western capitals. Continue reading
A MOMENT OF TRUTH IN UKRAINE
As 2024 dawns, there is palpable trepidation in the air. Continue reading
Brian Whitmore on NPR, December 11th, 2023
NPR’s Michel Martin talks to the Brian Whitmore of the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center about Russian President Vladimir Putin running for a fifth term in office.
MR. ZELENSKY GOES TO WASHINGTON
Mr. Zelensky went to Washington – and went home empty handed. Continue reading
Putin’s Middle Eastern Front
Vladimir Putin wanted everybody to know he was arriving. Continue reading
Putin’s Latest American Hostage
Vladimir Putin continues to take Americans hostage. Continue reading
TOWARD A THEORY OF SUCCESS IN UKRAINE
A stalemate in the Donbas as winter sets in. Continue reading
Brian Whitmore, “Phantom Limbs and Zombie Brains How Putin’s Russia ‘Captures’ Its Neighbors” November 8th, 2023
Brian Whitmore talk at the University of Texas at Arlington. Above is the transcript of the Team’s meeting.
UKRAINE’S HOME FRONT
Recent remarks by Gen. Valery Zaluzhny, Ukraine’s top military commander, that the war with Russia is locked in a stalemate with no breakthrough on the horizon landed in a toxic political atmosphere in the West in which support for military assistance to Kyiv is ebbing and the issue is becoming polarized. Continue reading
BREAKING THE STALEMATE
Ukraine’s top military commander said this week that his troops are locked in a “stalemate” with Russia and that “no deep and beautiful breakthrough” is on the horizon Continue reading
UNPACKING PUTIN’S GLOBAL STRATEGY
More than 20 months after Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, the dominant conventional wisdom is that Vladimir Putin’s autocratic and imperial regime has been isolated and ostracized. Moscow’s relations with the West have been all but severed. Putin’s travel is severely limited due to war crimes indictments. And the Russian economy is cut off from global financial markets due to sanctions. Continue reading
600 DAYS OF WAR
Vladimir Putin makes a rare foreign trip, visiting Beijing to attend the Belt and Road Forum, where he is greeted warmly by Xi Jinping. The two autocratic leaders claimed they were trying to establish a “fairer, multipolar world.” Continue reading
THE NEW CRIMEAN WAR
It’s been almost a decade since Russia illegally annexed Crimea with Vladimir Putin calling the peninsula sacred ground. And the public reaction to this first forceful change of borders in … Continue reading
THE PUTINIST IDEOLOGY
What does Vladimir Putin believe? Is there a coherent ideology driving his regime, its autocracy, and its imperial ambitions? If so, where did this ideology come from? And what does it mean for Russian domestic and foreign policy going forward? Continue reading
THE WAR IN AUTUMN
Following Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to the United States, and as Ukraine continues to make incremental gains in its counteroffensive in the east, reports are surfacing that Washington is finally ready to provide Kyiv with the long-range ATACMS missile systems it has been seeking. Continue reading
WAR, PUNISHMENT, AND CATHARSIS
How does Russia’s brutal and illegal invasion of Ukraine look from the perspective of a thoughtful Russian who publicly opposes the war, is horrified by its conduct, and has been motivated to painfully reexamine his own country’s history and culture as a result? Continue reading
PUTIN’S OTHER WARS
As Ukraine continues to make incremental gains in its counteroffensive against occupying Russian forces in the east, Moscow is conducting a quieter offensive of its own in other parts of the former Soviet Union. Continue reading
Brian Whitmore on CTV News – August 27, 2023
Wagner Chief confirmed dead Brian Whitmore, Non-resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council breaks down what happens next after the news.
Brian Whitmore on CTV News – August 25, 2023
Brian Whitmore discusses the credibility of the Kremlin’s denial in Prigozhin’s alleged death.
SEDITION AND PUNISHMENT
In the immortal words of Omar Little, “You come at the king, you best not miss.” Continue reading
Radio Interview with Inside Sources with Boyd Matheson on KSL Radio (Utah) – Brian Whitmore – August 24, 2023
The fascinating Russia soap opera involving Wagner Chief Prigozhin and Vladimir Putin continued yesterday. News broke that Prigozhin had died in a plane crash inside Russia. Was this an accident? … Continue reading
Interview with Deutsche Welle – Brian Whitmore – August 24, 2023
Yevgeny Prigozhin, formerly one of Vladimir Putin’s closest ally and head of the Wagner mercenary group, is thought to have died in a plane crash outside of Moscow. Wagner took … Continue reading
STATE OF THE WAR
With Ukraine’s counteroffensive moving slower than anticipated, Kyiv scores a small victory by liberating some strategic territory in Donetsk Oblast. Continue reading
THE BATTLE FOR GEORGIA, THEN AND NOW
We’ve got Georgia on our minds because fifteen years ago this week, a new era of Russian imperial expansion commenced with Moscow’s August 2008 invasion of that South Caucasus country. Continue reading
Brian Whitmore on Brussels Sprouts – August 4, 2023
Lukashenko, Wagner, and the Future of Belarus Over the past month, Belarus has been increasingly in the spotlight, with the announcement of the Wagner Group’s relocation to the country following … Continue reading
MOSCOW’S WOUNDED ‘GODFATHER’
One month after a short-lived armed insurrection directly challenged Vladimir Putin’s rule, the man who orchestrated it all is still roaming free. Continue reading
KREMLIN CHAOS & NATO UNITY
As NATO wrapped up a historic summit in Vilnius, the chaos from the fallout of Yevgeny Prigozhin’s failed insurrection in Russia continued apace. Continue reading
Inside Sources – Putin’s Network of Ruling Mob Bosses is Breaking Down – July 2023
Yesterday, we learned that Wagner chief Prigozhin may be back in Russia. He had been exiled to Belarus after leading an armed mutiny in Moscow. Then a pro Kremlin newspaper … Continue reading
AFTER THE UPRISING
Two weeks after Russian warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin launched, and then abandoned, an insurrection that shook Vladimir Putin’s regime to the core, the fallout, repercussions, and consequences continue to unfold. Continue reading
INSURRECTION AND CONSEQUENCES
It was the 24 hours that perplexed the world. Continue reading
Aftermath of Prigozhin’s Rebellion in Russia – CTV News June 2023
Talk with CTV News about Prigozhin’s Rebellion
Aftermath of Prigozhin’s Rebellion in Russia – Deutsche Welle TV June 2023
My appearance on Deutsche Welle TV today to discuss the aftermath of Prigozhin’s mutiny in Russia.
WHO BLEW UP NORD STREAM?
They were more than just gas pipelines. They were among the most important economic links between Russia and Europe. They were symbols of the continent’s dependence on Russian energy. And they were conduits for the Kremlin to spread corruption and malign influence. Continue reading
The Long Hot Summer Campaign
Ukraine’s long-awaited counteroffensive gathers steam as troops probe Russian defenses and claim some modest gains in the south and east. Continue reading
BUILD UKRAINE BACK BETTER
Most eyes are on the fighting in the Donbas as Ukraine’s counteroffensive appears to get under way. But far from the front lines, a vital discussion is taking place in Western capitals: What will it take to rebuild Ukraine when the war is finally over? Continue reading
UKRAINE ON THE EVE OF THE SPRING OFFENSIVE
Russian air attacks on Ukrainian cities continue almost nightly; Ukraine’s allies and proxies take the fight to Russian soil with a drone attack on Moscow and a bold incursion into Belgorod; anticipation builds for a long-awaited Ukrainian spring offensive in the east; and NATO gears up for a landmark summit in Vilnius next month. Continue reading
NBC5 DFW WITH BRIAN CURTIS – MAY 2023
University of Texas at Arlington professor Brian Whitmore talks with NBC 5’s Brian Curtis about being in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv during a Russian drone attack. Whitmore also shares … Continue reading
The Black Sea Front
It has become one of the critical fault lines in the geopolitical clash between Russia and the West. The Black Sea region — which encompasses NATO allies Bulgaria, Romania, and Turkey; Western partners Ukraine and Georgia; and of course, an increasingly aggressive and revanchist Russia — was a tense and contested area even before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Since the invasion, this competition and the potential for conflict have only escalated. Continue reading
The China Syndrome
The debate in Washington and other Western capitals has been raging for years: which adversary, Russia or China, should the United States and its allies devote its resources to countering and containing? Continue reading
SANCTIONS AND PUTIN’S WAR MACHINE
For the past year since Russia’s unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the United States and its allies have imposed some of the most extensive sanctions and export restrictions in history on Moscow. Continue reading
BRIAN WHITMORE SPEAKS AT #CONNEXIONS CONFERENCE AT UT-AUSTIN
Brian Whitmore, Assistant Professor of Practice at UTA’s McDowell Center and Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council, spoke at the 2023 #CONNEXIONS Conference at the University of Texas at Austin on April 11-12. Continue reading
ASSASSINATION, INTRIGUE, AND POWER STRUGGLES
A prominent Russian pro-war blogger is killed in a bombing at a St. Petersburg café. An anti-war activist is arrested as the authorities in Moscow allege a broad and improbable conspiracy involving the Ukrainian intelligence services and imprisoned Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny. Continue reading
THE GUNS OF SPRING: UKRAINE’S LOOMING OFFENSIVE
As Vladimir Putin’s war of aggression against Ukraine enters its 14th month, and with Russian forces failing in their efforts to take more territory in the Donbas, Ukrainian forces are gearing up for a spring offensive. Continue reading
Dictators, Summits, and War Crimes
Just days after the International Criminal Court issued a war crimes indictment for Vladimir Putin, making him the world’s most famous and most wanted fugitive, Chinese President Xi Jinping traveled to Moscow for a state visit, his 40th meeting with the Kremlin leader. Continue reading
THE CASE FOR LIBERATING CRIMEA
As Ukraine continues to beat back Russian forces in its eastern Donbas region and prepares for a spring offensive to liberate more territory, there is another issue lurking just below the surface. Continue reading
The Belarusian Front
Even as its invasion of Ukraine falters, Russia has clearly not given up on its ambitions to effectively absorb and annex Belarus. Continue reading
A YEAR OF WAR: PART TWO
One year ago, Vladimir Putin launched a war of aggression and a war of choice against Ukraine — and he expected it to be a cakewalk. It wasn’t. Continue reading
A YEAR OF WAR: PART ONE
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is nearing the one-year mark. In the first of two Power Vertical episodes marking the anniversary, host Brian Whitmore speaks with Volodymyr Dubovyk, an associate professor in the Faculty of International Relations at Mechnikov National University in Odesa and a visiting professor at Tufts University about the war’s major milestones, where it may be headed, and what European security might look like when it is over. Continue reading
UKRAINE AND WESTERN SECURITY
Billions of dollars in defense assistance; advanced weapons systems like HIMARS, Patriot Missile Batteries, and Abrams tanks; military training and intelligence sharing. Continue reading
THE LONG AND GRINDING WAR
After weeks of diplomatic wrangling, the United States and the NATO allies have broken a logjam and reached a consensus — and the big winner is Ukraine. Continue reading
Ukraine and The War Over History
Vladimir Putin may be a lot of things, but a historian is not one of them. Continue reading
Ukraine and the Global Battle for Democracy
For decades, democracies around the world have been under siege amid a rising tide of authoritarianism and populism. Vladimir Putin’s world appeared to be the wave of the future with autocracy gaining ground in Europe, Latin America, Africa, and Asia. Continue reading
Putin’s War Comes Home
As Russia’s war against Ukraine drags on into its 11th month and as its battlefield losses mount, cracks are becoming increasingly evident in the centralized top-down political system that Vladimir Putin has built. Continue reading
The Axis of Rogues
Russia and Iran are developing a full-scale defense partnership that goes beyond the drones that Tehran is providing Moscow to attack Ukrainian cities and infrastructure. Continue reading
The Guns of Winter
Russia continues to weaponize the winter with attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. Ukraine, meanwhile, strikes back with drone attacks on military installations deep inside Russian territory. Continue reading
When The War Is Over
As Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine enters its ninth month, one large question lingers: Just how does this war end? Should the West push for a total defeat for Russia or should it attempt to broker negotiations? Continue reading
War, Famine, and Genocide
Ninety years ago this month, the Kremlin launched a genocidal terror-famine, known as the Holodomor, against Ukraine. Continue reading
The Winter War
After months of fighting and a hasty Russian retreat, Ukraine’s armed forces liberated the southern city of Kherson last week, scoring a major strategic and symbolic victory. Continue reading
Toward a Marshall Plan for Ukraine
What will it take to rebuild Ukraine when the war is over? Continue reading
Threats, Lies, and Dirty Bombs
As Ukrainian troops move on the strategically vital city of Kherson in the south, alarms are sounding that Russia may detonate a dirty bomb – and blame it on Kyiv as part of a false flag operation. Meanwhile, with midterm elections fast approaching in the United States, cracks are beginning to appear in the Congress about U.S. support for Ukraine. Continue reading
NBC5 DFW with Brian Curtis – October 2022
Brian Whitmore appears in the NBC5 studio with Brian Curtis, to give an update on the Russia-Ukraine war and provide some insights on future obstacles for the Ukraine military as … Continue reading
University of Texas at Arlington Talk – October 2022
Brian Whitmore, Assistant Professor of Practice at the University of Texas at Arlington, visits UTA to host a discussion over the Ukraine War and why Russia and Ukraine are so different. Continue reading
The Ukraine War Escalates
Ukraine strikes the only bridge linking the annexed Crimean peninsula to Russia, scoring a key strategic and symbolic victory after a month of victories on the battlefields in the east and the south. Continue reading
Ukraine Strikes Back
Vladimir Putin’s Russia may just be the first country in history to claim to be annexing another country’s territory even as its own troops were simultaneously and hastily retreating from that very territory. Continue reading
War, Mobilization, and Blowback
Vladimir Putin’s mobilization runs into a snag as Russians take to the streets and draft-age men flee the country in massive numbers. Continue reading
Putin’s Escalation: An Act of Desperation or a Turning Point?
In the wake of humiliating military setbacks in northeastern Ukraine, Vladimir Putin implicitly threatens the West with nuclear blackmail and calls up 300,000 reservists to replenish his depleted troops on the battlefield. Continue reading
NBC-5 with Lili Zheng – September 2022
The families of WNBA star Brittney Griner and former Marine Paul Whelan will meet with President Joe Biden on Friday, as the White House continues to push for their release from detention in Russia. Brian Whitmore weighs in. Continue reading
The War After Kharkiv
A stunningly successful Ukrainian counteroffensive in Kharkiv Oblast in the northeast liberated an estimated 3,800 square kilometers of territory, an area roughly the size of the US state of Rhode Island, in just two days as the Russian front line crumbled and troops retreated. Continue reading
Tbilisi Int’l Conference – September 2022
Brian Whitmore speaks at a panel in Tbilisi, Georgia, organized by the Economic Policy Research Center, the McCain Institute, and the George W. Bush Institute, about Information Wars in Ukraine. Continue reading