The Power Vertical Podcast at CEPA

Don't look now, but the energy game is changing. Shale, LNG, and renewables are upending the old rules that have long governed the market. And as energy markets change, the geopolitics of energy won't be far behind. This has deep and profound implications for energy exporters like Russia, which has long relied on hydrocarbons to fuel its hegemonic ambitions. Brian Whitmore discusses what it all means with Agnia Grigas, a senior fellow at The Atlantic Council.

Throughout the Cold War, it was understood that the United States would bear the brunt of the burden for Europe's defense. And after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact, the issue of European defense and security was put on the back burner as military budgets shrank across the continent. Now, with a resurgent and revanchist Russia, European security is front and center again. But the question remains: who will bear the burden? And what is the future of Atlanticism?

Half a century ago this week, Soviet and Warsaw Pact troops invaded Czechoslovakia and crushed the Prague Spring. And 27 years ago this week, a hardline coup against Mikhail Gorbachev failed, precipitating the collapse of the Soviet Union. What do these anniversaries, and how they are observed – or not observed – tell us about today’s Russia? On this week’s Power Vertical Podcast, I take a look back – and a look ahead with Donald N. Jensen, a Senior Fellow at CEPA.

So you thought cyberattacks, disinformation campaigns, troll farms, and bot armies were a problem—well, you ain't seen nothing yet. According to a new report, advances in artificial intelligence, automation, and machine learning, together with the growing availability of big data, open the door to a frightening brave new world in which adversaries like Vladimir Putin's Russia can take political warfare against the West to a whole new level.

One is a rising power that believes time is on its side. The other is former empire desperate to revive its past imperial glory. They share opposition to the Western-led liberal world order. But their geopolitical interests clash in Central Asia, the Far East, and elsewhere. On this week’s Power Vertical Podcast I take a close look at the Sino-Russian relationship with Stephen Blank, a senior fellow on Russia at the American Foreign Policy Council.

Unpacking Putinism and its challenge to the West with Leon Aron. The restoration of empire. A multipolar world led by great powers. Spheres of influence. Personalized rule. An authoritarian and patrimonial state. Support for so-called traditional values. And something called sovereign democracy. All of these things have been associated with something we have come to call Putinism. But does it all add up to an ideology?

Despite Vladimir Putin's falling approval ratings, the mood in Moscow these days is triumphant—and not just because of Russia's surprisingly strong showing in the World Cup. With Putin about to get his long-sought one-on-one meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, many in the Russian foreign policy elite think they are about to get a lot of things on their wish list. So, are they?

How vulnerable is the Suwałki Corridor? And what can be done to defend it? On this week’s Power Vertical Podcast, I discuss this with LTG (Ret.) Frederick Benjamin Hodges, the former commander of U.S. Army Europe, currently the Pershing Chair in Strategic Studies at CEPA, and co-author of the upcoming report: Securing The Suwałki Corridor: Strategy, Statecraft, Deterrence, and Defense.

He leads a regime that plays by its own rules. He's been called a spoiler, a rogue, and a global troll. But Vladimir Putin’s international misbehavior also invokes a tactic as old as warfare itself – that of a raider. On this week’s Power Vertical Podcast, we look at raiding as a strategy and a tactic in the Kremlin’s playbook. Host Brian Whitmore, director of the CEPA Russia Program, is joined by CEPA Senior Fellow Donald N. Jensen and military analyst Michael Kofman of the CNA Corporation.

It's one of the greatest threats to European security and transatlantic solidarity. It flouts EU laws and regulations—and gets away with it. It's a guided weapon masquerading as a commercial project. It, of course, is the Kremlin-sponsored Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project. Host Brian Whitmore, director of the CEPA Russia Program, is joined by CEPA President Peter B. Doran and Benjamin Schmitt, European Energy Security Advisor at the U.S. State Department.

How are members of Russia’s “Generation Z” different from their parents? Will the Putin generation turn against Putin? In the third edition of the new Power Vertical Podcast at CEPA, we dive into a recent report by CEPA Adjunct Fellow Maria Snegovaya looking at the generation born since 1993. Joining me are CEPA fellows Maria Snegovaya and Donald N. Jensen.

What do you do when an adversary is using chaos as a strategy? You get smart. In the second edition of the new Power Vertical Podcast at CEPA, we look at a recent report by CEPA Senior Fellow Donald Jensen and CEPA President Peter Doran on the Kremlin’s strategy of chaos. Host Brian Whitmore, director of CEPA’s Russia program, previews his upcoming series on Hybrid Containment, a Western strategy for countering Moscow’s offensive.  Joining me are CEPA fellows Donald Jensen and Maria Snegovaya

The Forever War