We've got spy cases. We've got escorts involved in high-stakes political intrigue. We've got great power competition in different corners of the globe. And we've got bickering over an arms control treaty.

No, it's not 1974. It just feels that way.

This week, the Power Vertical podcast is trying something a little different. Rather than doing a deep dive on one big topic for the whole program, Brian Whitmore and CEPA Editor in Chief Donald N. Jensen open up the grab bag—a Moscow Miscellaneous, if you will—a rapid-fire look at a series of things that have been happening recently.

We've all seen this movie before. It's called the Aleksandr Lukashenka shuffle. When the authoritarian Belarusian leader's relations with Russia get stormy, he begins flirting with the West, only to return anew to Vladimir Putin's embrace. We've seen it for years. Everybody has always known what he's up to. And everybody played along with his little two-step. But now, with reports that Russia is seriously considering an "Anschluss"—or formal annexation of Belarus—the game seems a lot more consequential, and a lot more dangerous. Joining Brian Whitmore on the latest Power Vertical are CEPA Editor in Chief Donald N. Jensen and special guest Michael Carpenter, Senior Director of the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement.

First Putin promised prosperity in exchange for freedom. Then Putin promised empire in exchange for prosperity. But with empire appearing to slip away, what will he have to offer?

The line between peace and war is blurred, as is the line between domestic politics and foreign affairs. The motherland is surrounded and besieged by enemies.

And in this environment, the best defense is a good offense. In this environment, the best strategy is to weaponize everything.

The concept of asymmetric warfare is not new to Russian military thinking. In fact, it has deep historical roots. What are they? And what can the West learn from them?

Listen to the latest Power Vertical Podcast as Brian Whitmore is joined by Krisztian Jojart, the Andrassy National Security Fellow at CEPA, an external fellow at the Budapest-based Center for Strategic and Defense Studies, and author of a forthcoming report on the Historical Roots of Russian Asymmetric Warfare. Also joining the podcast is report co-author Dorka Takácsy, the Szell Kalman Fellow at the Hungary Initiatives Foundation in Washington, and Donald N. Jensen, a senior fellow at CEPA and a lecturer at Johns Hopkins University.

Nearly five years ago Vladimir Putin's regime forcefully and illegally annexed Ukraine's Crimean peninsula. Today Russia is attempting to forcefully and illegally annex the international waters of the Sea of Azov. At stake is southeastern Ukraine's access to the sea as well as Ukraine's economic viability and very sovereignty. But Moscow's gunboat diplomacy also has broader implications for international law, maritime rights, and Black Sea security. Listen to the latest Power Vertical Podcast as Brian Whitmore navigates the choppy waters of the Sea of Azov with guests Stephen Blank, a senior fellow for Russia at the American Foreign Policy Council and CEPA Senior Fellow Donald N. Jensen.

The West has seen Russia's strategy of chaos before. And it can fight back. Listen to the latest Power Vertical podcast as Peter B. Doran and Donald N. Jensen explain how.

With all the trolls, bots, cut-outs, fakes, psy-ops, active measures, and influence campaigns, the West is facing a stealthy and joined-up threat from the Kremlin and other hostile actors.

Some of it, we've seen before in the Soviet propaganda campaigns of the Cold War. Some of it is new, tailored to the era of digital news and social media.

So, how is the push-back going?

Find out on this week's Power Vertical Podcast, where Brian Whitmore speaks to JD Maddox, a consultant to the U.S. State Department's Global Engagements Center and CEPA President Peter B. Doran.

They're agile. They're mobile. And they're elusive. They're stateless, they're disruptive, and they're violent. They're the new barbarians. They're at the gates of Western civilization. And in an era of heightened great power conflict and competition, they're changing the calculus, strategy, and rules of international politics. Are terrorists, pirates, and hackers the new Huns, Goths, and Vandals? And how do they play into the conflict between Russia and the West? On this week's Power Vertical Podcast, Brian Whitmore speaks with former U.S. State Department official Jakub Grygiel, author of the new book Return of the Barbarians: Confronting Non-State Actors from Ancient Rome to the Present, to find out.

A Russian invasion masquerading as a popular uprising. An unexpectedly robust Ukrainian defense. A frozen stalemate with no end in sight.

So what exactly has Moscow learned after more than four years of war in the Donbas?

On this week's Power Vertical Podcast, we take a look at how Russian military thinkers view the war and what that means for the future.

Joining me are Krisztian Jojart, the Andrassy National Security Fellow at CEPA, an external fellow at the Budapest-based Center for Strategic and Defense Studies, and author of the forthcoming report Lessons From Ukraine: Implications for Russian Military Thinking; and veteran Kremlin-watcher and former U.S. State Department official Donald Jensen, a senior fellow at CEPA and a lecturer at Johns Hopkins University.

Elite tension, protests, and duels: Listen to the latest on Russia with Brian Whitmore, Donald N. Jensen, and Maria Snegovaya.