Analysis

This listing contains all the analytical materials posted on the Russia Matters website. These include: RM Exclusives, commissioned by Russia Matters exclusively for this website; Recommended Reads, deemed particularly noteworthy by our editorial team; Partner Posts, originally published by our partners elsewhere; and Future Policy Leaders, pieces by promising young scholars and policy thinkers. Content can be filtered by genre and subject-specific criteria and is updated often. Gradually we will be adding older Recommended Reads and Partner Posts dating back as far as 2011.
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Does the International Liberal Order Have a Future?

Joseph S. Nye Jr. December 28, 2020 Partner Posts
The question Biden faces is not whether to restore the liberal international order. It is whether the United States can work with an inner core of allies while cooperating with a broader set of states to cope with transnational threats.
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What Is the Purpose of American Foreign Policy?

Jacob Heilbrunn December 20, 2020 Partner Posts
Several experts debate American interests and the goal of U.S. foreign policy.
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The Second Nagorno-Karabakh War, Two Weeks In

Michael Kofman and Leonid Nersisyan October 14, 2020 Recommended Reads
Azerbaijan and Armenia have now spent more than two weeks at war. Initial Azerbaijani tactical successes have failed to lead to an operational breakthrough and the conflict may settle into a war of attrition.
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Time For Russia and Other Great Powers to Move From Words to Actions to End Karabakh War

Simon Saradzhyan October 08, 2020 Partner Posts
Russia remains the only country capable of single-handedly compelling Armenia and Azerbaijan to end the conflict in Karabakh. Yet, it has so far been unwilling to back its calls with the deeds needed to compel both sides to lay down arms, even if only temporarily.
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When the Chips Are Down: Russia’s Stance in the Current Azeri–Armenian Confrontation

Neil Melvin October 06, 2020 Recommended Reads
Kremlin faces a strategic juncture in its post-Soviet policy for the South Caucasus, the traditional balancing act is no longer capable of ensuring Russia's leading regional role as the South Caucasus become another zone for Turkey–Russia proxy competition.
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Why Russia’s Alliance With China is Improbable, But Not Impossible

Simon Saradzhyan September 21, 2020 Partner Posts
The relationship between China and Russia is getting stronger by the hour. While some might say that Russia and China are in a de facto non-aggression pact, a deeper alliance is still unlikely, though not impossible.
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In Russia’s Shadow: China’s Rising Security Presence in Central Asia

Bradley Jardine and Edward Lemon May 01, 2020 Recommended Reads
Both Russia and China seek to expand their influence in Central Asia. Russia may have a strategic edge in the region for now, but the gap is closing.
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The Open World

Mira Rapp-Hooper and Rebecca Friedman Lissner April 16, 2019 Recommended Reads
While the U.S. has had no major geopolitical rivals in the last 30 years, it now has two: Russia and China.
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Russia and China Are Outwitting America

Vance Serchuk April 10, 2019 Recommended Reads
American politicians frame the current world order as China, Russia, and the United States locked in a 'great-power competition.' However, by restricting their definition of this rivalry to a race for technological prowess, U.S. national security experts increase the possibility of an inadvertent escalation to war.
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Not All Is Quiet On the Arctic Front

Elizabeth Buchanan March 25, 2019 Recommended Reads
2019 presents four clear windows for increased competition in the Arctic.
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A Sino-Russian Entente Again Threatens America

Graham Allison and Dimitri Simes January 29, 2019 Recommended Reads
U.S. policy could soon make a 'grand coalition' of China and Russia a geostrategic reality.
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China and Russia: A Strategic Alliance in the Making

Graham T. Allison December 14, 2018 Recommended Reads
Defying the long-held convictions of Western analysts, and against huge structural differences, Beijing and Moscow are drawing closer together to meet what each sees as the "American threat."
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