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.
Clues from Russian Views

Bring Back the Fear

Fyodor Lukyanov interviews Dmitri Trenin September 26, 2022 Recommended Reads
Russia's "red line" is absent from the American rule book, which the world is based on. Therefore, the only thing that can stop the United States in this situation is fear—its own fear of the next step.
Clues from Russian Views

From Thanking God to Seeing the Abyss: Russians React to Putin’s Mobilization

Simon Saradzhyan September 21, 2022 RM Exclusives
Check out our compilation for reactions to Putin's announcement from both Russia’s pro-war and anti-war camps.
Clues from Russian Views

Russia’s Turn to the East: Between Choice and Necessity

Timofei Bordachev September 01, 2022
Relations with the Asian countries are indeed becoming not a choice, but a necessity.
Clues from Russian Views

Volunteer Battalions: From Offense to (Territorial) Defense?

Nikolai Petrov August 19, 2022
Launched in the spring, the large-scale program to form volunteer battalions across Russia’s regions seeks to accomplish several tasks.
Clues from Russian Views

The Russian Revolution Failed. Long Live the Revolution!

Victor Davidoff August 19, 2022
In 2022, the anniversary of the victorious "August Revolution of 1991" in Russia brings only bitter disappointment that descends into depression.
Clues from Russian Views

The Future Defederation of Russia

Alexander Etkind June 08, 2022
Contemporary Russia, a nation-state, calls itself a federation, like Germany or Switzerland, when in fact it is behaving like an empire in its hour of decline.
Clues from Russian Views

Could Russia Use the Nuclear Option?

Pyotr Topychkanov May 16, 2022
The threat of a nuclear strike on Ukraine is being hotly discussed in the media and social networks. But there are reasons to be both skeptical and wary of this threat.
Clues from Russian Views

Why We Are Missing the Cold War

Andrey Sushentsov May 06, 2022
It is obvious that the Americans’ interest now is to make the Ukrainian crisis last as long as possible, so that Russia comes out of it weaker: this will create a different negotiating reality.
Clues from Russian Views

Tested by Ukraine. Third Attempt

Konstantin Zatulin May 01, 2022
"After February 24 ... we have no other choice other than to win," says the Russian lawmaker.
Clues from Russian Views

This War Cannot End in a Victory

Alexei Yurchak April 25, 2022
When reforms start at the top—and they will start because this war [in Ukraine] cannot end in a "victory"—the regime will collapse. We know from our recent history that such changes happen quickly and unexpectedly.
book review

Negotiators, Take Heed: Whether You’re Talking With Russia or Others, New Book Is Master Class on Working Your Way to a Deal

Olga Oliker April 06, 2022 RM Exclusives
A striking aspect of Rose Gottemoeller’s story of New START is that she and her team faced as many challenges from the U.S. as from their Russian counterparts.
book review

Plokhy’s New Cuban Missile Crisis Book Offers Glimpse Into the Minds of Rank-and-File Soviet Officers

Simon Saradzhyan June 25, 2021 RM Exclusives
Harvard Professor Serhii Plokhy’s new book, “Nuclear Folly: A History of the Cuban Missile Crisis,” offers new insights into the experiences of lower-level officers who participated in the perilous events that brought us to the brink of nuclear war nearly 60 years ago.
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