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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The War in Ukraine in a Transitional World Order

Robert Legvold February 23, 2024 RM Exclusives
The war in Ukraine is reshaping an international system released from its moorings and lurching in uncertain directions, which in turn is affecting the course and prospective outcome of the war.
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Russia's Upper Hand Puts US-Ukraine at a Crossroads

George Beebe and Anatol Lieven January 11, 2024 Recommended Reads
Absent a compromise settlement, massive levels of aid for Kyiv would have to continue, perhaps indefinitely.
Competing Views on Russia

General David Petraeus on the Russia-Ukraine War

Kate Davidson, Conor Cunningham and RM Staff December 21, 2023 RM Exclusives
Petraeus shared with Harvard students, faculty and staff the insights he has outlined in his most recent book, co-authored with Andrew Roberts, "Conflict: The Evolution of Warfare from 1945 to Ukraine."
Competing Views on Russia

William Burns on Russia

Daniel Shapiro and RM Staff September 19, 2023 RM Exclusives
What has the CIA director said on Russia? Check out our compilation for some of Burns' observations and policy ideas regarding Russia.
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A World Transformed and the Role of Intelligence

William J Burns July 01, 2023 Recommended Reads
'We are ... at an inflection point. The post-Cold War era is definitely over. Our task is to shape what comes next,' says CIA Director William Burns, as he delivers the 59th Ditchley Annual Lecture.
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The moment when Putin turned away from the West

David Ignatius March 09, 2023 Recommended Reads
Bush had maintained a surprisingly close relationship with the Russian leader, centered on a counterterrorism alliance. The United States was battling al-Qaeda at the time; Russia was fighting Chechen separatists. But Putin came to believe that America was an unreliable, hypocritical partner — and that belief would curdle into the open feud that has deepened, year by year.
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No, Weakening Russia Is Not “Costing Peanuts” for the U.S.

Trita Parsi January 20, 2023 Recommended Reads
As support slips for military funding to Ukraine, some analysts argue that America is getting a great deal for its money. But there are a lot of strategic costs that don’t show up on the balance sheet.
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How Silent Assent Made Bucha Possible

Andrei Kolesnikov April 07, 2022 Recommended Reads
Those who approve or stay silent bear, at the very least, collective responsibility for what is happening in their own country and what the state is doing.
book review

Review of Marlene Laruelle's 'Is Russia Fascist? Unraveling Propaganda East and West'

Arthur Martirosyan August 19, 2021 RM Exclusives
Laruelle convincingly depicts the perils of the poisonous potential of the memory wars and frivolous accusations in fascism to eliminate prospects for a negotiated modus vivendi on the European continent and driving the game to a set of zero-sum encounters depriving the sides from the meaningful engagement on many issues presenting common interests.
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Afghanistan Has Never Been Moscow or Washington’s to Win or Lose

Sergey Radchenko August 16, 2021 Recommended Reads
Radchenko: When it comes to the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, Biden made the right call, even if the execution was far less impressive than the orderly Soviet pullout some 30 years ago. What is left in the wake of the U.S. withdrawal was never going to be pretty but nor did the Soviets leave a pretty sight. But this hardly changes the basic issue: Getting in was a mistake; getting out was the right thing to do. Because in the end Afghanistan was never Moscow’s, or Washington’s, to win or lose. 
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Afghanistan Is a Wake-Up Call for ‘Major Non-NATO Allies’

Nikolas K. Gvosdev August 16, 2021 Recommended Reads
From Afghanistan to Hungary, there is confusion about what alliance means and what steps the United States is prepared to take on behalf of those it considers allies. These matters need resolution because the United States cannot allow any doubt about what commitments it is prepared to enforce, especially with great power competitors more prepared to test any ambiguity in America’s stance.
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Be Careful What You Wish For: Russia, China and Afghanistan after the Withdrawal

Jeffrey Mankoff July 29, 2021 RM Exclusives
Do Beijing and Moscow have sufficient influence to oversee a managed transition, contain any spillover of violence, and provide reassurance to anxious Afghanistan neighbors? The whole region is about to find out.
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