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.
Clues from Russian Views

Interview with Sergei Karaganov: 'If We Lost, Russia Would Risk Breaking Apart'

Limes June 03, 2022
Karaganov says Russia has an absolute need of a victory in Ukraine to avoid the risk of the Russian Federation's disintegration.
article

Hoping for a Russia Without Putin: Biden Wasn’t the First, or the Last

RM Staff May 26, 2022 RM Exclusives
Would the world be better off with Putin out of power? In this compilation, we have gathered statements by Western and Russian commentators who state or suggest just that, or at least try to explain the thinking of those who hold such a view.
Clues from Russian Views

Andrey Kortunov Offers 3 Scenarios for the End of the War in Ukraine

The Economist May 20, 2022
According to Kortunov, the conflict concerns a clash between very different ways of organizing social and political life within two countries which together once constituted a large portion of Soviet territory.
Clues from Russian Views

Politics and Circumstances

Dmitri Trenin May 20, 2022
It must be understood that the strategic defeat that the West, led by the United States, is preparing for Russia, will not lead to peace and the subsequent restoration of relations.
Clues from Russian Views

Could Russia Use the Nuclear Option?

Pyotr Topychkanov May 16, 2022
The threat of a nuclear strike on Ukraine is being hotly discussed in the media and social networks. But there are reasons to be both skeptical and wary of this threat.
article

Putin’s Perilous Imperial Dream

Cristina Florea May 10, 2022 Recommended Reads
Underpinning Putin’s righteous battle for Russians in Ukraine is an organic vision of Russian nationhood defined by blood and cultural and spiritual traits rather than by political contract or choice.
survey

Survey: What Would a Le Pen Presidency Mean for France’s Policy Toward Russia?

RM Staff April 20, 2022 RM Exclusives
The nationalist firebrand who has recently "put water in her vodka" and considerably toned down her anti-EU rhetoric is well known for cultivating warm ties with Vladimir Putin's Russia.
Clues from Russian Views

'​​​​​​​​​​​​​​The Big West Is Against Us and It Will Begin to Crumble Sooner or Later'

Interview with Sergey Karaganov April 12, 2022
“Ukraine was supposed to play the role of a spear, the tip of which is at the heart of ... Russia. This is a serious fight. They would like to weaken and destroy us, regretting that this was not done in the 1990s. ... We must unite, stand our ground and win," says the director of Russia's Council on Foreign and Defense Policy.
article

Strategic Folly in Ukraine: A War That Putin Cannot Win

Lawrence Freedman March 03, 2022 Recommended Reads
From the start, the Russian campaign has been hampered by political objectives that cannot be translated into meaningful military objectives.
interview

Fiona Hill to Politico: Yes, Putin Would Use Nukes

RM Staff March 02, 2022 Recommended Reads
In this interview, the former U.S. National Security Council official discusses Putin's goals and motives in Ukraine and his indications that use of nuclear weapons is on the table.
survey

Expert Survey: Impacts of Russia’s War in Ukraine

Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs February 28, 2022 Partner Posts
Belfer Center experts comment on repercussions of the invasion.
article

Decoding Putin’s Speeches: The Three Ideological Lines of Russia’s Military Intervention in Ukraine

Marlene Laruelle and Ivan Grek February 25, 2022 RM Exclusives
Putin's Feb. 21 and Feb. 24 speeches have confirmed the construction of a narrative legitimizing the military intervention in Ukraine along three key ideological lines: a historical one, an ethnic one and a political one.
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