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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Joe Biden’s Risky Russia Sanctions Game

Nikolas K. Gvosdev March 03, 2021 Recommended Reads
How will U.S. action towards Moscow affect two more critical relationships for Washington: the ones with Berlin and Beijing?
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It’s Better to Deal with China and Russia in Tandem

Thomas Graham and Robert Legvold February 04, 2021 Recommended Reads
Putting China and Russia into policy silos will be counterproductive.
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Joe Biden Must Embrace Liberal Nationalism to Lead America Forward

John J. Mearsheimer December 29, 2020 Recommended Reads
Biden faces a daunting list of domestic and international problems while his ability to address those problems is severely limited by circumstances beyond his control.
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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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How to Reinvent Democracy Promotion

Melinda Haring December 24, 2020 Recommended Reads
The United States cannot credibly promote democracy abroad any longer, and the Biden administration must act swiftly to eliminate this obvious hypocrisy.
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The US Should Stop Underestimating Russian Power

Kathryn E. Stoner December 23, 2020 Recommended Reads
Conventional wisdom says Vladimir Putin has a weak hand in international politics, but plays it well. The problem with this idea is that it seriously underestimates the value of the cards in Putin’s hand.
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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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Trump’s Loss Not Necessarily Russia’s

Steven Pifer November 09, 2020 Recommended Reads
Trump’s loss thus may seem a defeat for Russia. But a Biden presidency can offer a silver lining for the Kremlin. 
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Exposing Putin's Hidden Riches Won't Stop Russia's Election Meddling

Lincoln Pigman August 19, 2020 Future Policy Leaders
The deep flaws in one of Washington’s more popular plans to stop Russia’s election meddling shows just how much work remains to be done on deterring foreign adversaries from undermining the integrity of U.S. elections.
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It’s Time to Rethink Our Russia Policy

Rose Gottemoeller, Thomas Graham, Fiona Hill, Jon Huntsman Jr., Robert Legvold and Thomas R. Pickering August 05, 2020 Recommended Reads
An open letter signed by 103 foreign-policy experts on how to reconsider America's approach to Putin—and whoever comes next.
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The State Department’s Compliance Report Plays the Blame Game, Despite Offering Little Evidence

Matt Korda and Hans M. Kristensen June 24, 2020 Recommended Reads
The report’s publication comes at a critical time, as the Trump administration has spent the past few years—and the past three months in particular—dismantling the last vestiges of U.S. commitments to the international arms control regime.
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The Problem With Fearmongering About Russian Electoral Interference

Joseph Haker and Andrew Paul February 24, 2020 Recommended Reads
Blaming outsiders distracts attention from the very real domestic problems that make "disinformation" campaigns coherent in the first place.