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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The Shanghai Cooperation Organization: Development Hampered by Internal Conflicts

Lucie Messy October 29, 2020 RM Exclusives
While the capabilities of individual SCO members, such as China and Russia, pose a challenge to Western countries’ interests, due to internal challenges and a loose organizational structure, the organization itself does not.
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Putin, Putinism and the Domestic Determinants of Russian Foreign Policy

Michael McFaul October 19, 2020 Partner Posts
For a complete understanding of Russian foreign policy today, individuals, ideas, and institutions—President Vladimir Putin, Putinism, and autocracy—must be added to the analysis. Putin's ideas about illiberalism, orthodoxy, sovereignty and the West shaped his decision-making in unique ways. 
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Beyond Arms Embargo, Obstacles Remain to Iran’s Acquisition of Russian Weapons

Nicole Grajewski October 15, 2020 RM Exclusives
On Oct. 18, the U.N. conventional arms embargo on Iran will expire despite Washington’s attempts to extend it. However, Russia's opposition to the extension should not be mistaken as an indication that Moscow will rush to sell weapons to Tehran.
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Time For Russia and Other Great Powers to Move From Words to Actions to End Karabakh War

Simon Saradzhyan October 08, 2020 Partner Posts
Russia remains the only country capable of single-handedly compelling Armenia and Azerbaijan to end the conflict in Karabakh. Yet, it has so far been unwilling to back its calls with the deeds needed to compel both sides to lay down arms, even if only temporarily.
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Why Russia’s Alliance With China is Improbable, But Not Impossible

Simon Saradzhyan September 21, 2020 Partner Posts
The relationship between China and Russia is getting stronger by the hour. While some might say that Russia and China are in a de facto non-aggression pact, a deeper alliance is still unlikely, though not impossible.
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Expert Round-Up: How Likely Is a China-Russia Military Alliance?

Simon Saradzhyan and Angelina Flood June 14, 2019 RM Exclusives
Dozens of scholars, analysts and officials assess the strengths and weaknesses of the Sino-Russian "comprehensive partnership and strategic interaction."
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The Retreat of Western Liberalism and New Competition of Great Powers

Thomas Graham June 10, 2019 Partner Posts
Great power competition today will not resemble the great power competition of the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries up to World War I.
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Ukraine and NATO: Disconnect Between State Policy and Public Opinion Is Less Dangerous Than Russia

Daniel Shapiro May 09, 2019 RM Exclusives
Governments in plenty of countries have pushed through major foreign policy initiatives such as NATO entry despite formidable opposition among their citizens. This doesn’t necessarily mean Ukraine should do the same.
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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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Ukraine: Looking Forward, Five Years After the Maidan Revolution

Steven Pifer February 22, 2019 Partner Posts
Ukraine has made significant progress on domestic reform and agreed on the goal of becoming a normal European state. But it has more to do, including pursuing more reforms while engaged in a low-intensity but real war with Russia.
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John Mearsheimer on International Relations, Great Power Politics and the Age of Trump

Michael Lind December 15, 2018 Partner Posts
John J. Mearsheimer’s "The Great Delusion: Liberal Dreams and International Realities" argues that the United States’ pursuit of a “liberal hegemony” has been a failure with sizeable costs.
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US Security and Russia: Choices and Consequences

Jill Dougherty and Thomas Zamostny December 07, 2018 Partner Posts
America’s current strategy toward Russia, simply put, is not working; instead, it’s tying our hands. It’s making Russia more aggressive externally and less democratic internally. The dangers are escalating.
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