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.
article

The INF Treaty Crisis: Filling the Void With European Leadership

Nikolai Sokov March 01, 2019 Recommended Reads
The end of the INF Treaty and wavering on New START show just how much the U.S.-Russian arms control relationship has deteriorated. Europe can step in as mediator to renew effort in nonproliferation, but it must act quickly and develop the political will to move outside of its traditional place on the margins.
article

Why the Arms Race Is Still White Hot Decades After the Cold War Ended—and How to Stop It

Jonathan Hunt November 02, 2018 Recommended Reads
Did the Cold War arms race actually end, or have we merely sat through a 30-year intermission?
article

The Russification of US Deterrence Policy

Nikolai Sokov December 25, 2017 Recommended Reads
The United States now shares the same concerns as Russia. This might be good news or bad news, depending on political decisions.
podcast

Cooperative Threat Reduction or: How I Stopped Worrying and Got Rid of the Bomb

Nukes of Hazard September 15, 2017 Recommended Reads
Former U.S. Sens. Sam Nunn and Richard Lugar, along with former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense Andrew Weber, discuss the challenge of securing and eliminating the disintegrating Soviet Union's nuclear arsenal at the end of the Cold War in this Nukes of Hazard podcast. 
report

Strengthening Strategic Stability with Russia

Christopher S. Chivvis, Andrew Radin, Dara Massicot and Clinton Bruce Reach July 01, 2017 Recommended Reads
With the U.S. and Russia still possessing nuclear arsenals that could devastate whole continents, what can be done to shore up strategic stability amid rising tensions between the two countries? A new report looks for answers.
article

The Trump Administration and Nuclear Arms Control Treaties

Steven Pifer December 02, 2016 Recommended Reads
Before backing away from any arms control agreements, the Trump administration should consider the consequences for U.S. national security. For one thing, the recommendations could prompt a new arms race—and give Russia a big head-start.
article

MAD About You: It's Time to Turn Mutually Assured Destruction Into Mutually Assured Stability

Ellen Tauscher and Igor Ivanov June 14, 2013 Recommended Reads
Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin must agree to move away from traditional doctrines of nuclear policy.
article

Time to Change America's Atomic Arsenal

Tom Nichols March 14, 2013 Recommended Reads
The U.S. should adopt a minimum deterrence policy by substantially reducing its nuclear arsenal. Modern nations fear any use of nuclear weapons, so giant stockpiles are "overkill."