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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Russia and China Beyond Realpolitik: The Bond of Respect and Values

Jeanne L. Wilson February 04, 2019 RM Exclusives
Converging and diverging interests play a big role in shaping Chinese-Russian relations, but so do “status granting” and shared political values.
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China and Russia: A Strategic Alliance in the Making

Graham T. Allison December 14, 2018 Recommended Reads
Defying the long-held convictions of Western analysts, and against huge structural differences, Beijing and Moscow are drawing closer together to meet what each sees as the "American threat."
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The Lessons of World War I Still Haunt Russia Today

Nikolas K. Gvosdev November 10, 2018 Recommended Reads
The current Russian political and strategic establishment sees in World War I and the Revolution a cautionary tale of what the Russian leadership at the beginning of this century must do to avoid repeating those disasters.
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NATO’s Trident Juncture Exercise as a Deterrence Signal to Russia

Dmitry Gorenburg November 01, 2018 RM Exclusives
The military lessons for the exercise’s participants promise to be significant, while the immediate political impact will be minor. Russia’s main worry? A permanent U.S. troop deployment in eastern Europe.
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Vostok-2018: Russia and China Signal Growing Military Cooperation

Michael Kofman September 10, 2018 RM Exclusives
This year’s strategic military exercise demonstrates both that Russia is still a power in Asia and that it will work with China to offset threats from Washington.
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Opposition to Nord Stream 2 Makes No Sense for America or Europe

Eugene Rumer August 12, 2018 Recommended Reads
U.S. President Donald Trump and his critics at home and in Europe have found common ground in opposing the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.
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Divide and Invest: Why the Marshall Plan Worked

Melvyn Leffler June 14, 2018 Recommended Reads
While the Marshall Plan was arguably the most successful U.S. foreign policy program during the Cold War, it also exacerbated Cold War tensions.
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A New Cold War Is Not Inevitable

James Stavridis March 27, 2018 Recommended Reads
With international tensions running high, the top NATO and Russian military commanders have much to discuss.
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Putin's Pivot: 4 New Features of Russian Foreign Policy

Daniel Treisman March 14, 2018 RM Exclusives
The annexation of Crimea in 2014 signaled a new phase of Russian foreign policy, characterized by risk taking, neglect of exit strategies, outsourcing and saber rattling. But can the success of these tactics last?
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Unintended Escalation: 5 Lessons From Israel for the Russia-NATO Standoff

Dmitry (Dima) Adamsky February 14, 2018 RM Exclusives
For the past few years, Western planners have been girding for Russian aggression. Ironically, this has raised the likelihood of an unplanned war. Israel has fought such wars and has important lessons to offer the U.S. and Russia.
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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.
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US-Russia-Turkey Dynamics in Syria After ‘Olive Branch’: One Door Closes, Another Opens

Oksana Antonenko January 26, 2018 RM Exclusives
Ankara’s Afrin offensive has exposed Moscow’s vulnerabilities in Syria and hurt Russia’s chances for casting itself as the lead player in clinching a peace deal. But it also opens a new door for tactical U.S.-Russian cooperation to keep the peace in northern Syria.
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