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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On The Design of Effective Sanctions: The Case of Bans on Exports to Russia

Ricardo Hausmann, Ulrich Schetter and Muhammed A. Yildirim September 01, 2022 Partner Posts
Well-coordinated sanctions can substantially increase costs to Russia with minimal impact on sanctioning countries, researchers find after examining the impact of export bans on 5,000 products.
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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.
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Putin Has Off-Ramps: Let’s Not Block Them

Henry Hale and Adam Lenton February 02, 2022 Recommended Reads
Accounts claiming Putin has passed the point of no return overlook key sources of Putin’s domestic appeal, which is based much more on pragmatically providing stability, security, and prosperity than on aggressiveness.
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As Markets Crash and War Fears Grow, Russia’s Business Elite Suffers in Silence

Pjotr Sauer and Jake Cordell January 25, 2022 Partner Posts
Some of the country’s most successful executives are preparing for heavy losses, but unable to speak out or influence events.
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Will Russia’s Upcoming Duma Elections Change Anything At All?

Andrei Kolesnikov September 15, 2021 Partner Posts
The authorities are faced with the fiendish task of convincing democratic-minded voters that there is no point in voting, while making every effort to boost turnout among the conformist, state-dependent electorate.
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Declassified Sources on Gagarin

Asif Siddiqi April 12, 2021 Partner Posts
Collectively these 20 declassified documents provide an extraordinary peek into the preparations and implementation of the flight of Yuri Gagarin, the first Soviet cosmonaut, who flew into space on April 12, 1961.
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Is the “Resource Curse” Irreversible? Experiences of the Russian Regions

Delgerjargal Uvsh April 05, 2021 Partner Posts
The experiences of Russia’s oil- and gas-producing regions after the collapse of the Soviet Union suggests that political elites can make a difference in reversing the “resource curse” if their abundant revenues from natural resources decline.
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Andrea Lee's "Russian Journal": A Tapestry of the Late Soviet Era

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon February 19, 2021 Partner Posts
As part of the Kennan Institute's Black History Month programming, Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon reflects on a travelogue from the 1970s by Andrea Lee titled "Russian Journal," which is a fast-paced tour through Brezhnev's so-called “stagnant” Soviet Union.
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The Russian Military is Facing a Looming Demography Crisis

Ethan Woolley February 01, 2021 Partner Posts
When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, the newly formed Russian Federation’s demography essentially walked off a cliff.
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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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Putin’s End Game?

Henry Hale March 11, 2020 Partner Posts
Even if current appearances are correct that Putin is bidding to stay in power for another decade, the Russian leader’s aging means the issue of succession will not completely go away.
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Putin Is Planning a Partial Retirement

Alexander Baunov January 17, 2020 Partner Posts
Putin has set out the road map for the transition he wants Russia to make in 2024. It is a picture of continuity, in which Putin can still keep a pivotal role, even if not necessarily the most prominent one in public.