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.
book review

7 Pillars of Putin’s World: New Book Shows US Policymakers Russia as It Is

Nikolas K. Gvosdev April 04, 2019 RM Exclusives
Angela Stent clearly lays out Russia’s strategic imperatives and the mindset of Putin and his circle to present a coherent, compelling analysis of contemporary Russian behavior in the world.
book review

Russia’s ‘Peripheral Authoritarianism’ as Described by Grigory Yavlinsky

RM Staff March 22, 2019 RM Exclusives
In his new book, one of post-Soviet Russia’s most enduring liberal politicians describes the emergence of his country’s current system of governance and predicts its impending doom.
book review

How the US Managed, and Mismanaged, Russia: A Superstar Diplomat Tells His Story

Graham Allison March 12, 2019 RM Exclusives
William Burns’ new book describes his warnings to the Bush administration that pushing for NATO membership for Georgia and Ukraine would spur Moscow to use armed force in the former and to meddle in Crimea and eastern Ukraine.
book review

And Here the Twain Shall Meet: Eurasia’s Role in a Changing World Order

Dominic Ziegler February 15, 2019 RM Exclusives
Russia and China are two key players in a new Eurasia. In the book reviewed here, Bruno Maçães argues that this supercontinent is the most salient feature of an emerging new world order.
issue brief

The INF Quandary: Preventing a Nuclear Arms Race in Europe. Perspectives from the US, Russia and Germany

William Tobey, Pavel Zolotarev and Ulrich Kühn January 24, 2019 RM Exclusives
The 1987 INF Treaty now faces an existential threat that could lead to intermediate-range missiles targeting the entire European continent. Three experts weigh in on the consequences and prospects.
book review

‘No Place for Russia’: How Much Are Old US Ambitions in Europe to Blame for Russia-West Tensions Today?

Joshua Shifrinson January 03, 2019 RM Exclusives
In the 1990s, preserving NATO and, with it, U.S. preeminence in Europe became the sine qua non of U.S. European policy. Is this why Russia was left out of Europe’s post-Cold War security structure?
issue brief

When Does Vladimir Putin’s Russia Send In Troops?

Simon Saradzhyan August 07, 2018 RM Exclusives
Examining Putin’s three military interventions abroad, the author sees a pattern in which two conditions must be present for Russia to intervene with force: a threat to its vital interests and a reasonable chance of success.
issue brief

The Durability of Russian Military Power: Moscow’s Prospects for Sustaining Direct Competition

Michael Kofman May 25, 2018 Recommended Reads
Russia's success in restoring its military power gives it greater leverage on the international stage, and Moscow is increasingly using this threat of force to underwrite its foreign policy.
issue brief

After the INF Treaty: An Objective Look at US and Russian Compliance, Plus a New Arms Control Regime

Kevin Ryan December 07, 2017 RM Exclusives
Russia, according to U.S. officials, has violated the INF Treaty. The U.S. is on the verge of violating, if it has not already done so. What’s needed now is a new treaty focusing on warheads instead of delivery systems.
column

Yes, Russian Generals Are Preparing for War. That Doesn’t Necessarily Mean the Kremlin Wants to Start One

Simon Saradzhyan August 30, 2017 RM Exclusives
Past experience suggests that two conditions must exist for Russia to use military exercises as a cover for foreign military interventions and neither one is in place today.
book review

‘Return to Cold War’: A New Book Dissected

ISSF March 03, 2017 Partner Posts
Four eminent Russia experts—James Goldgeier, Rajan Menon, Condoleezza Rice and Angela Stent—review Columbia professor Robert Legvold’s new book.
issue brief

The Soviet Collapse and Its Lessons for Modern Russia: Gaidar Revisited

Simon Saradzhyan December 22, 2016 RM Exclusives
Twenty-five years ago the USSR fell apart. One of Soviet Russia’s first market reformers analyzed why. His findings point to big challenges ahead for today’s Russia.
Refine & Filter

By Section

By Topic

By Country

By Regions

By Groups

By Genre