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.
article

US Intel Leaks Highlight Russia's Limited Options in Face of Ukraine's Counteroffensive

Pavel Luzin May 05, 2023 RM Exclusives
Moscow’s main bet militarily seems to be on playing defense, as it lacks the manpower, arms and commanders to regain strategic initiative on the battlefield.
issue brief

With New START Setbacks Challenging Arms Control, US Must Work to Reduce Chances of Nuclear War, With or Without Russia

Leonor Tomero  March 15, 2023 RM Exclusives
Key goals are to invest in more resilient deterrence and to understand whether the two countries' views on strategic stability have fundamentally diverged.
Clues from Russian Views

Devoted to Putin: Volodin's Views on Russia, the West and the Rest

RM Staff January 27, 2023 RM Exclusives
Despite his mastery of reductionist flattery and "unlimited devotion" to Putin, the speaker of the State Duma likely isn't a member of the Russian president's inner-most circle. Still, he may have a shot at the Kremlin when Putin steps down.
Clues from Russian Views

The World According to Patrushev

Simon Saradzhyan and Angelina Flood October 07, 2022 RM Exclusives
Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of Russia’s Security Council, often comes up when discussion turns to possible Putin successors. Check out our compilation for some of his views on issues that impact important U.S. interests.
Clues from Russian Views

‘We Fight How We Can’: Russian Views on Ukraine’s Counteroffensive—How It Happened and What Comes Next

RM Staff September 16, 2022 RM Exclusives
The response in Russia’s pro-war camp to Ukraine’s success generally fell into three categories: spin, spleen and silence.
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NDAA-2022: How US Priorities Regarding Russia Have Shifted

Aleksandra Srdanovic November 05, 2021 RM Exclusives
This comparison of all provisions of the enacted 2021 and proposed 2022 NDAAs that affect Russia, former Soviet republics and Baltic countries highlights how U.S. priorities regarding Russia have shifted in recent years.
multimedia

PONARS Eurasia Fall Policy Conference 2021

PONARS Eurasia October 24, 2021 Partner Posts
Leading experts from around the world discuss US-Russia relations, security and geopolitics topics.
podcast

Revisiting the Russian Military

SRB Podcast September 12, 2021 Partner Posts
In this episode of the SRB podcast, Michael Kofman and Dmitry Gorenburg discuss recent developments in the Russian military.
multimedia

We Can Defense If We Want To

Foreign Policy Research Institute June 29, 2020 Partner Posts
In this episode of FPRI's Bear Market Brief, host and Eurasia expert Aaron Schwartzbaum speaks with Michael Kofman, director of the Russia Studies Program at CNA, on Russia's military.
multimedia

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?
issue brief

Why Does Congress Not Care About Normalizing Relations With Russia?

Daniel Shapiro and Arthur Martirosyan February 26, 2020 RM Exclusives
There are several major reasons why, whether under the Clinton, Bush, Obama or Trump administrations, Capitol Hill has been reluctant to normalize relations with Russia and even at times hit the brakes on reset attempts.
podcast

Off the Page: How to Enlarge NATO

International Security January 15, 2020 Partner Posts
Twenty-five years ago, supporters of a relatively swift conferral of full NATO membership to a narrow range of countries outmaneuvered proponents of a slower, phased conferral of limited membership to a wide range of states. How can the history of NATO enlargement help explain transatlantic politics, conflict in Ukraine and U.S.-Russia relations today?