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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Dangerous Expectations

Paul Saunders March 17, 2017 RM Exclusives
Could new and lower Russian expectations for U.S.-Russia relations limit U.S. leverage?
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Russia, Trump and a New Détente: Fixing US-Russian Relations

Robert David English March 10, 2017 Recommended Reads
Demonizing Russia only widens the gulf of U.S.-Russian misunderstanding and encourages dangerous misconceptions.
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Damage Done: How Russia Hysteria Has Hurt US-Russia Relations

Nikolas K. Gvosdev March 06, 2017 Recommended Reads
Cooperation and communication between Russia and the U.S. is a diplomatic necessity, but the previously difficult task of creating a normal bilateral encounter may now be all but impossible.
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Neo-McCarthyite Furor Around Russia Is Counterproductive

Katrina vanden Heuvel February 21, 2017 Recommended Reads
In this political climate, common sense is being lost and important questions are not being addressed.
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Why Trump Is Right on Russia

Anatol Lieven February 14, 2017 Recommended Reads
Recent policy failures suggest that cooperation with Russia is unavoidable.
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The ABCs of Russian Military Power: A Primer for the New Administration

Michael Kofman February 02, 2017 Recommended Reads
Russia has been busy restoring its military power, and these reforms have serious implications for the new U.S. administration.
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A Strategic Response to the Russian Hacking Affair

Rolf Mowatt-Larssen December 22, 2016 RM Exclusives
The response to Russia’s alleged hacking must not be hasty. The whole affair may even help craft some much needed rules of the cyber game—but only if we keep a realistic view of Russia’s perspective.
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Russia’s Role in the US Elections: The Case for Caution

George Beebe December 16, 2016
Despite Moscow’s clear preference for the Republican presidential candidate and forensic data traceable back to Russia, the U.S. must act with caution in order to avoid falling into the same traps it found itself in over a decade ago.
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Putin Didn't Undermine the Election—We Did

Katrina vanden Heuvel November 29, 2016
Anything Russia may have done to discredit the legitimacy of U.S. democracy and presidential elections pales in comparison to the damage America itself has done.
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Why Putin Prefers Trump

Mikhail Zygar July 27, 2016 Recommended Reads
Putin supports leaders whose motivations he understands. With his cynicism and overt power-seeking, Trump fits the bill.
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Quite Possibly the Dumbest Military Concept Ever: A 'Limited' Nuclear War

Geoff Wilson and Will Saetren May 27, 2016 Recommended Reads
Thinking we can use nuclear weapons in a “limited” way without inviting nuclear catastrophe is a dangerous fantasy.
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US-Russian Relations: The Middle Cannot Hold

Samuel Charap and Jeremy Shapiro May 03, 2016 Recommended Reads
The Obama administration's "middle-way" strategy towards Russian policy of concurrent antagonism and cooperation must be ended in favor of a more stable path.