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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Warsaw: NATO's Theater of the Absurd

Harvey M. Sapolsky and Elizabeth S. Barnes July 08, 2016 Recommended Reads
Russia is not about to invade a NATO country and risk war with an alliance that possesses a combined population of nearly nine hundred million, is built around the vastly superior military power of the United States, and has access to the industrial capabilities of both Europe and North America.
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The Russian Military: A Force in Transition

Michael Kofman June 24, 2016 Recommended Reads
While the most recent Russian military reforms produced impressive results, they remain incomplete, resulting in a permanent change for the Russian military without an easily discernible destination.
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Quite Possibly the Dumbest Military Concept Ever: A 'Limited' Nuclear War

Geoff Wilson and Will Saetren May 27, 2016 Recommended Reads
Thinking we can use nuclear weapons in a “limited” way without inviting nuclear catastrophe is a dangerous fantasy.
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What Would a Realist World Have Looked Like?

Stephen M. Walt January 18, 2016 Recommended Reads
Expanding NATO didn’t strengthen the alliance; it just committed the U.S. to protect a group of weak and hard-to-defend places that were far from home but right next door to Russia.
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Unpacking Russia's New National Security Strategy

Olga Oliker January 07, 2016 Partner Posts
Russia's new national security strategy is the document of an ambitious Russia that sees constraints on its ambitions as threats to be overcome, whether they come from within or without.
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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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Why Russian Natural Gas Will Dominate European Markets

Tim Boersma and Geert Greving February 24, 2014 Recommended Reads
Russia’s Gazprom announced that in 2013, its share of European natural supplies rose to a historical high of 30%, provoking the question: is this an incident or a trend?

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