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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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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Does the International Liberal Order Have a Future?

Joseph S. Nye Jr. December 28, 2020 Partner Posts
The question Biden faces is not whether to restore the liberal international order. It is whether the United States can work with an inner core of allies while cooperating with a broader set of states to cope with transnational threats.
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What Is the Purpose of American Foreign Policy?

Jacob Heilbrunn December 20, 2020 Partner Posts
Several experts debate American interests and the goal of U.S. foreign policy.
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Neither U.S. Candidate Bodes Well for Russia’s Energy Market

Tatiana Mitrova November 02, 2020 Partner Posts
The Republican and Democratic candidates have fundamentally opposite views on developing the energy sector, but whoever wins—and for different reasons—it won't be good news for Russia’s oil and gas industry.
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How U.S. Elections Could Impact EU-Russia Relations

Andrey Kortunov October 30, 2020 Partner Posts
Tuesday's elections in the U.S. could have significant effects on the EU-Russian relationship. Should Donald Trump be reelected, the EU will likely be forced to fight a "war on two fronts." On the other hand, if Biden is elected, U.S. foreign policy would likely "become more professional, rational, consistent and predictable," leading to both opportunities and challenges for Russia and the EU.
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Have America’s Russia Watchers Been Getting It Wrong?

Center for the National Interest October 27, 2020 Partner Posts
Washington's surprise at Russia's behavior over the past few decades suggests that American experts — now more than ever — are struggling to assess and predict Russian actions.
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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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Belarus’s Protests Aren’t Particularly Anti-Putin

Rajan Menon August 19, 2020 Partner Posts
Although some Western experts have warned about a Russian military intervention in Belarus, Russia may sit largely on the sidelines in hopes that whatever government succeeds Lukashenko will be pro-Russian.
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Do Black Lives Matter in Russia?

Peter Rutland and Andrei Kazantsev July 13, 2020 Partner Posts
Studying the reactions to Black Lives Matter in Russia can teach us a lot about Russian society—just as Russians and others have learned a great deal about American society as the movement has unfolded.
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Video: Spheres of Influence Webinar

Center for the National Interest April 08, 2020 Partner Posts
When policymakers in the United States declared in the aftermath of the Cold War that the age of “spheres of influence” had ended, were they misdiagnosing the issue?
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It's Time to Rethink Russia's Foreign Policy Strategy

Dmitri Trenin April 25, 2019 Partner Posts
Russia's rapidly changing geopolitical situation necessitates a restructuring of its inconsistent foreign policy. Primarily, it must renounce any aspirations to military or political domination. The author describes the steps that the Russian government must instead take to promote stability and growth.
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Video: Trump’s Impact on the World—Timothy J. Colton on Russia

Weatherhead Center for International Affairs January 15, 2019 Partner Posts
Harvard professor of government and Russian studies Timothy Colton discusses the fraught relationship between the U.S. and Russia under the Trump administration.