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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Open Letter to President Donald Trump and President Vladimir Putin

Des Browne, Wolfgang Ischinger, Igor Ivanov and Sam Nunn June 29, 2017 Partner Posts
Four influential foreign-policy thinkers—former senior officials from Germany, Russia, the UK and the U.S.—call on Moscow and Washington to “stop the downward spiral in relations" and work together on areas of existential common interest.
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Taking the Edge off U.S.-Russia Strategic Relations

Steven Pifer June 16, 2017 RM Exclusives
Now that the U.S. and Russia have agreed to resume talks on strategic stability, they should begin them as soon as possible in order to prevent a conflict with dire consequences.
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For Washington, Russia Makes Afghanistan Mess Even Messier

Jeffrey Mankoff June 14, 2017 RM Exclusives
As U.S. military efforts meet with little success, Russia has taken a much more active approach to Afghanistan, building bridges with the Taliban and hoping to enhance its role in the region.
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Is NATO Getting Too Big to Succeed?

Charles Kupchan May 25, 2017 Recommended Reads
The alliance's practice of anchoring new democracies to the Atlantic community by absorbing them into NATO has backfired.
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Assessing the Damage of the President’s Intelligence Sharing with Russia

Rolf Mowatt-Larssen May 17, 2017 Partner Posts
Sadly, at a time when Donald Trump needed coordination with the intelligence community, his actions have undermined its trust. This does not serve U.S. security interests.
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A Strategy for (Modestly Increasing the Chance of) Saving the INF Treaty

James M. Acton May 11, 2017 RM Exclusives
While it’s highly unlikely that Russia will return to compliance with the INF Treaty, the U.S. should make every effort to save the agreement by creating three realities that Moscow can’t ignore.
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Tom Friedman Is Calling for a Partition of Syria: Trump Should Run the Other Way

Stephen M. Walt April 07, 2017 Recommended Reads
Sending U.S. troops into Syria is not a solution. After all, the U.S. does not have the best track record when it comes to intervention in the Middle East.
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Snapshot Analysis: Was Chemical Attack in Syria Meant to Drive Wedge Between US and Russia?

Simon Saradzhyan April 07, 2017 RM Exclusives
The U.S. strikes against Syria have sharply escalated tensions between Moscow and Washington, but the two can still mend fences and work toward peace in Syria.
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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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Trump Deserves a Chance to Deal with Russia over Syria

Nikolas K. Gvosdev March 15, 2017
U.S. President Donald Trump has expressed a desire to work with Russia to combat Islamic extremist movements in the Middle East. Despite the potential complications, such cooperation should be explored.
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Applying Lessons of US-Russian Space Cooperation to Revive Nuclear Security Partnership Between Moscow and Washington

Simon Saradzhyan and William Tobey March 14, 2017 Recommended Reads
The U.S. and Russia should infer lessons from their joint exploration of space to revive their nuclear security cooperation.
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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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