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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NATO Expansion: What Gorbachev Heard

Svetlana Savranskaya and Tom Blanton December 12, 2017 Recommended Reads
Newly declassified documents lend credence to claims that Western leaders repeatedly reassured their Soviet counterparts in the early 1990s that NATO would not budge "one inch eastward."
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Lessons from Russia's Operations in Crimea and Eastern Ukraine

Michael Kofman, Katya Migacheva, Brian Nichiporuk, Andrew Radin, Olesya Tkacheva and Jenny Oberholtzer May 01, 2017 Recommended Reads
Russia's military operation in 2014 to annex Crimea was a decisive and competent use of military force, while its campaign in the eastern part of Ukraine was ineffectually implemented but achieved its aim: political fragmentation of the country.
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Tom Friedman Is Calling for a Partition of Syria: Trump Should Run the Other Way

Stephen M. Walt April 07, 2017 Recommended Reads
Sending U.S. troops into Syria is not a solution. After all, the U.S. does not have the best track record when it comes to intervention in the Middle East.
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Syria and the Call of the Quagmire

Paul R. Pillar April 06, 2017 Recommended Reads
America's immersion into the Syrian civil war carries with it the risk of widespread warfare.
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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.
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America's Awesome Military

Michael O'Hanlon and David Petraeus September 30, 2016 Recommended Reads
U.S. defense experts call to maintain, if not increase, U.S. military budget while diverting funding to areas with most need.
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Ukraine’s Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace

Nicolai N. Petro September 07, 2016 Recommended Reads
Amidst the brewing domestic political storm, the struggle for the right to define Ukrainian identity has become a “perpetual war, for perpetual peace,” a peace that can only come when all the enemies of Ukraine, at home and abroad, are fully vanquished.
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False Alert: Is Russia Beefing Up Forces on NATO’s Border?

Ulrich Kühn July 08, 2016 Recommended Reads
While Russia has done an about-face on military reforms meant to switch from large divisions to smaller, more mobile brigades, Moscow is not (yet) creating additional armed forces.
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Back From the Brink: Toward Restraint and Dialogue Between Russia and the West

Deep Cuts Commission June 20, 2016 Recommended Reads
In its report, the Deep Cuts Commission provides recommendations aimed at preventing any potential catastrophic military escalation between Russia and the West.
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How Western aid enables graft addiction in Ukraine

M. Steven Fish and Neil A. Abrams May 05, 2016 Recommended Reads
Can Western aid actually support the cause of reform in Ukraine? Or is Western assistance enabling an entrenched elite to continue stealing and avoid building a functioning state?
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Ukraine's Hybrid State

Balázs Jarábik and Mikhail Minakov April 22, 2016 Recommended Reads
Ukraine has new institutions and a vibrant civil society, but a culture of corruption erodes state legitimacy. The state has been captured by enemies within.
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How to Solve the Ukraine Crisis

Graham Allison June 06, 2014 Recommended Reads
Given the complex realities contributing to the war in Ukraine, Graham Allison outlines six recommendations that could help stop the ongoing conflict.
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