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.
podcast

Of Gorbachev, and of Writing About Gorbachev

Center for Strategic and International Studies March 28, 2018 Partner Posts
In this episode of the Russian Roulette podcast, hosts and CSIS Russia and Eurasia Program experts Olga Oliker and Jeffrey Mankoff sit down with William Taubman to discuss the subject of his most recent biography, Mikhail Gorbachev.
podcast

Eurasian Enigma: Russian News Media and Elections With Anna Veduta

Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies March 27, 2018 Partner Posts
In this episode of the Eurasian Enigma, Anna Veduta, former press secretary for Alexei Navalny’s 2013 Moscow mayoral campaign, discusses how Russian-language independent media outlets struggle to survive both in Russia and abroad.
article

What Next? The Implications of Putin’s Reelection

Peter Rutland March 22, 2018 RM Exclusives
Key uncertainties surround Russian politics, making it hard for Western leaders to craft an effective strategy toward Moscow. One thing is clear: The West must find a way to deal with Putin and stop waiting for a “friendlier” successor.
article

What Putin's Reelection Means for Russia and the World

Nikolas K. Gvosdev March 19, 2018 Partner Posts
So Putin returns to office, likely to take the initiative to shape both Russia’s domestic politics and its international position to his liking.
podcast

Of Campaigns, Democracy and Campaigns for Democracy in Russia

Center for Strategic and International Studies March 14, 2018 Partner Posts
In this episode of the Russian Roulette podcast, hosts and CSIS Russia and Eurasia Program experts Olga Oliker and Jeffrey Mankoff sit down with Vitali Shkliarov, a senior adviser for Ksenia Sobchak’s presidential campaign, to discuss politics, democracy and the complexities thereof.
multimedia

Video: Six More Years of Putin?

Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) March 14, 2018 Partner Posts
In the days before Russia's presidential election, several experts sat down to unpack Russian attitudes, Russian politics and Russian interests regarding the vote and what it might mean for the U.S.
article

Averting the US-Russia Warpath

James N. Miller, Richard Fontaine and Alexander Velez-Green February 22, 2018 Partner Posts
For Russia and the U.S., new incentives for using "nonkinetic" weapons, like cyber attacks, threaten the stability afforded by mutually assured destruction.
article

US Approach to Russia in New Nuclear Posture Review Risks Boosting Chances of Conflict

Jon Wolfsthal February 02, 2018 RM Exclusives
Instead of using trusted tools to manage our countries’ high-risk frictions, the new NPR seems to pursue the one thing that failed to make America and its allies safer in the Cold War: a nuclear arms race.
article

Why Did the Trump Administration Pass the Buck on Sanctioning Russia?

David Szakonyi February 01, 2018 RM Exclusives
This week the U.S. executive branch rejected a Congressional mandate to punish Moscow with additional sanctions. What happened and what does it portend for future U.S. policy toward Russia?
article

Russian Nuclear Forces: Buildup or Modernization?

Hans M. Kristensen September 14, 2017 RM Exclusives
Russia is not increasing its nuclear arsenal, though some commentators keep saying it is. What's important, however, is to monitor how Russia is modernizing its strategic nuclear forces.
article

Russian Military Buildup in the West: Fact Versus Fiction

Michael Kofman September 07, 2017 RM Exclusives
Until 2014 Russia was largely cutting the number of troops on NATO's borders to move them elsewhere. The war with Ukraine changed that, reawakening Moscow to the possibility of a large-scale war on its western front.
multimedia

Video: New US Sanctions on Russia

Center for the National Interest August 14, 2017 Partner Posts
Former officials from the Bush and Obama administrations discuss the impact and implications of the new Russia sanctions bill.